A 50-year-old man from Qormi was this morning granted bail against a deposit of €2,000 and a personal guarantee of €20,000 after he pleaded not guilty to defrauding two brothers of €25,000.
George Sammut, who was brought to Malta from the UK on the strength of a European arrest warrant, had allegedly fooled the brothers into thinking that he would open a business with them before he left for the UK eight years ago.
In the UK, Mr Sammut kept in contact with the brothers and promised them their money back but this was never forthcoming so the two men filed a police report against him four years ago.
The European Arrest Warrant has been pending for one-and-a-half years until the police in the UK managed to find him Mr Sammut.