A company director suspected of tricking a couple out of €5,000 walked out of court a free man today after being acquitted due to a lack of evidence. 

Anthony Scicluna was accused of having deceived Carmelo and Emanuela Borg in June 2011 after the two had entrusted €5,000 to him on the basis of a written agreement concerning the purchase of the land.

The court, presided by magistrate Joseph Mifsud, made reference to Maltese jurisprudence as well as judgments in Italian courts, which made a distinction between misappropriation and fraud.

The court observed that in cases of misappropriation, the victim handed over money or goods freely and for a particular purpose agreed upon. In the case of fraud, the victim is tricked out of his possession by some deceptive scheme.

In this case, the court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove that Mr Scicluna had used deceptive or false pretences to make an unlawful gain.

It therefore acquitted Mr Scicluna, declaring that the degree of proof necessary in criminal proceedings had not been attained.

"The evidence produced points towards a failure to fulfil contractual obligations," the magistrate concluded. There was no indication that the accused was bound to return the money to the couple and consequently the man had no case to answer.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was counsel to the accused.