An unemployed mother of a newborn girl was on Thursday granted bail after she pleaded not guilty to falsifying pay slips to avoid footing a bill for childbirth services at Mater Dei.

Ksenija Kojovic, a 34-year old Serbian national residing at St Paul’s Bay, had been on the police radar since November last year when police suspicions were aroused by forged pay slips presented by the woman at Mater Dei.

The woman declared that she was gainfully employed in Malta and therefore benefited from free healthcare related to the delivery of her baby daughter in September 2017, presenting the forged payslips to prove her claim.

Pending police investigations into the matter, the alleged fraudster was granted police bail in November, until charges were pressed against her in court on Thursday for having defrauded the public coffers out of some €1,300.

The woman faced several charges related to the making of a fraudulent gain through the use of false documents.

A request for bail was met with no objection by the prosecution who informed the court that, while under police bail, the woman had always kept her appointments and had cooperated fully.

Moreover, it was evident that she had no intention of fleeing from Malta where the father of her child lived and worked, the court was told.

In view of these circumstances, the court, presided over by magistrate Charmaine Galea, upheld the request for bail against a personal guarantee of €5,000 and an obligation to sign the bail book twice weekly.

Inspector Yvonne Farrugia prosecuted. Lawyer Ann Marie Mangion was defence counsel.