A man was cleared of defrauding two brothers who claimed he sold property they had already paid him for.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli noted that the brothers used false contracts to hide the fact that they loaned him money.

Kevin Zammit, from Żebbuġ, was cleared of the misappropriation of €162,000 and of defrauding brothers John and Raymond Farrugia.

The court heard that, on March 1, 2004, Mr Zammit had signed a promise of sale agreement to sell an apartment in St Paul’s Bay to John Farrugia for €109,000.

Mr Farrugia claimed he paid the amount upfront on signing the agreement and later learnt that Mr Zammit sold the property to someone else.

Raymond Farrugia said that on March 12, 2004, he had bought a garage from Mr Zammit for €53,000 and the contract had been finalised.

He too said that he later found it had been sold.

Mr Zammit said he signed the promise of sale agreement for the apartment and the contract to sell the garage only as a guarantee on a loan he was given by the Farrugia brothers.

They were aware of this and also knew that he would be selling the properties to third parties.

Mr Zammit exhibited a contract, in which the promise of sale agreement with John Farrugia was cancelled.

Magistrate Demicoli found that Mr Zammit had managed to prove the promise of sale agreement and the contract were staged on the request of the Farrugias as a guarantee for the money they loaned him.

It was evident that they reported him to the police to put pressure on him to get paid, she said.

The magistrate ruled that the Farrugias used “unacceptable methods” to hide the fact that they loaned money to the accused with fictitious documents.

Police Inspector Joseph Abdilla appeared for the prosecution. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Emmanuel Mallia represented Mr Zammit.