A man and a woman were this morning conditionally discharged for four years after they were found guilty of using false documents to buy a house and under-declaring its value.

The court heard that investigations by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit established that Christopher Agius, the director of real estate agency Locations Landrocks, also offered a service of hastening the loan application process for the sale of properties by altering FS3 forms and declarations of taxable income.

Through his work, applicants could benefit from a bigger loan than they would have qualified for, to the detriment of the banks.

When promises of sale were drawn up, the properties were declared to cost less, so that the buyers would pay less duty. The difference would then be declared as money needed to finish the property.

The unit also found architects' declarations which showed properties as having not yet been constructed, when they were actually finished.

The court found this morning that Shawn Paul Buttigieg and Tatyana Cachia, both 22, of Vittoriosa made use of this service.

Although they were found guilty of making use of false documents, they were cleared of misappropriation because the bank gave the loan money directly to the contractor and the couple submitted their payments regularly and on time.

They also had a clean police record.