A woman who lent thousands of euros to friends interest-free ended up in court accused of usury as the debtors tried to get out of paying the outstanding amounts, a court has found.

Raymond Bonnici, his partner Doris Vella and her daughter Graziella had reported the accused, Joyce Scerri, back in 2012, alleging usury.

Magistrate Claise Stafrace Zammit heard Doris and Graziella Vella claim that they had started borrowing small sums of money without interest. They claimed that the trouble erupted when they borrowed €3,700 which they had to pay back in €400 monthly installments.

They claimed that when the amount was paid, the accused told them that the outstanding amount had swelled to €8,700.

However, the alleged victims' testimony was inconsistent, confusing and shorn of details, the court found.

Doris Vella testified that she had borrowed money from Joyce Scerri in the past but upon borrowing the €3,700, she was slapped with interest rates after new interest rates.

However, she could neither recall the year nor how much she had paid. She could not even remember how much the accused had told her she had to pay by the end of the term, the court observed,

On the other hand, the accused gave a different version of events and was clear and consistent throughout.

She said that Doris Vella, who had become her friend, would frequently borrow money or other items and would always return them without any problems.

One day, Ms Vella's daughter Graziella asked her for €6,380 because her electricity supply was about to be cut off.

Feeling sorry for her, she gave her the money and, on a paper signed by the two of them, the accused wrote down the details of the loan, stating that there were no interest charges and that she was to be repaid in €400 monthly installments.

Subsequently, Doris Vella had approached the accused and asked her for €2,500 because her partner Raymond Bonnici needed to pay a fine and did not have the necessary money. They agreed to combine the two outstanding amounts to form a global sum of €8,880, which would be paid back at a rate of €600 monthly. But hardly anything was paid back.

The court said that it had not been proven that the accused had lent out the money at a higher interest rate than that allowed by law.

Ironically, the court said, two women who borrowed the money from the accused seemed to know less about the case than Mr Bonnici, who was not even directly involved and who had told the court that his testimony was based on what he had been told by his partner and her daughter.

"Having satiated themselves with borrowing money from the accused - since they found her to be convenient - and upon realising that that had racked up a bill which they would not manage to repay, they decided to fabricate a story against her so that the bill would be forgiven if she was found guilty," the court ruled.

Ms Scerri was therefore cleared of all charges brought against her.

Lawyers Vince Micallef and Stephanie Abela defended the accused.