Four Latvians were yesterday jailed for three years each after admitting to using counterfeit credit cards at two casinos last weekend and claiming they had been sent here to buy electronics and re-sell them in the UK.

A fifth was also charged but pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody.

Police Inspector Ian Abdilla said that, in their statements, the men told him that a group of people in England had told them to fly to Malta via Paris and buy electronics using the false cards. The items would then be sold and they would receive 10 per cent of the profit.

Matriss Cicis, 21, Vjaceslavs Stegmans, 34, Edgards Kervis, 20 and Eriks Zakis, 20, all pleaded guilty while Toms Strelcs, 22, denied his involvement.

Inspector Abdilla said he received information about the men on Sunday after the Dragonara and Hilton casinos reported them on suspicion they were using false cards.

A search was carried out in hotels in the area and the five men were apprehended in room 567 of the St George’s Park Hotel with 14 counterfeit cards.

They had been meant to stay only one night and then fly back to the UK. The same evening that the report was made by the casinos, the men had used the cards to buy food from Burger King in Paceville, he said.

In submissions on punishment, the inspector said that, just two weeks ago, there was an almost identical case in which three men were jailed for 18 months. Despite the effective jail terms being handed down, the message did not seem to be getting through and the crimes continued, he added.

Legal aid lawyer Noel Bartolo asked Magistrate Claire Zammit Stafrace to take into consideration the fact that his clients were not the brains behind the criminal organisation and had filed a guilty plea at an early stage of the proceedings.

After taking into consideration the aspects of the case, the magistrate jailed them for three years each. Speaking to the men afterwards she told them that the jail term was close to the minimum.