A convicted serial fraudster had cheated everyone she came in contact with, including probation officers, a judge said on Friday, turning down her appeal of a previous conviction.

Judge Giovanni Grixti this week shot down an appeal by Annabelle Camilleri Monreal, a 32-year-old with a long history of fraud cases.

Back in 2014 she had been jailed for seven months after pleading guilty to defrauding an Englishman who had paid her to rent an apartment that was not hers.

Ms Camilleri Monreal had defrauded the Englishman, John Palmer, of €1,000.

She had rented the luxury, seafront apartment in St Paul's Bay for just two days with the intention of making a copy of the key. Using this, she showed Mr Palmer around the apartment as a rental proposition. He agreed and paid her €600 as deposit and another €400 to rent the apartment for a month.

In court, the accused had burst into tears, falsely claimed that she was pregnant, and eventually admitted to all the charges.

She had then appealed the sentence claiming it was too harsh.

The woman has other pending fraud cases, including one in which she is accused of defrauding her former employer, Zahra Trading and Properties.

She had previously been charged over a Gozo farmhouses scam which left many in the lurch too.

In his judgment, Judge Grixti said the sentence was well within the parameters set at law.

In his closing remarks, Judge Grixti noted how a pre-sentencing report had found that Ms Camilleri Monreal had lied to her probation officer about her relationship with her family, and even with her psychiatrist.

He said it was unfortunate that she was persisting in throwing away every opportunity to reform that came her way.