A 32-year-old man was given a suspended sentence after accepting nearly €18,000 for a BMW which did not exist. He also has to pay the victim the full amount within a month.

The case dates to 2012, when the accused, Christian Saliba, had accepted €17,750 from John Spiteri to purchase a vehicle from the UK in his name.

The court heard how the accused, who claimed he was going to buy a car for himself, suggested that the pair could meet in the UK and drive the vehicles down to Malta once they were ready.

The accused, claiming to be in the UK, sent Mr Spiteri pictures of the vehicle, which the latter approved and paid €2,500 as deposit. However, the accused then got back to Mr Spiteri, telling him that, upon inspecting the car, he realised that it had some dents and promised to find him another vehicle.

Upon his approval of the second car, the plaintiff transferred the entire sum to a bank account belonging to the accused’s mother.

The plaintiff waited for the accused to invite him to the UK so that they could drive the vehicles to Malta but was met with a list of excuses to justify the delays. Mr Spiteri decided to head to the accused's residence and found him there, when he was supposed to be in Sicily.

The accused claimed the vehicle was in Sicily but the plaintiff requested that he sign a document binding him to either deliver the car or return the money.

The accused asked to pay him back in €250 monthly installments, upon which Mr Saliba filed a police report.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke found the accused guilty of misappropriation of funds and sentenced him to two years imprisonment suspended for four years. Failure to pay back the full amount in a month would also result in the sentence being converted to an effective jail term.

Police inspector Yvonne Farrugia prosecuted.