Woman gets three years in jail over venture which never materialised

A woman who was found guilty of swindling a Libyan friend by encouraging him to join a business venture which never materialised has been sentenced to three years in jail.

Joanne Sciberras, 39, had asked the man, whom she had known for 20 years, for a loan to cover VAT payments needed to obtain clearance of a container-load of energy drinks through Customs. The man duly handed over some €2,400 to the woman.

Two days later, he was informed that the profits from the eventual sale of the energy drinks, expected to total some €20,000, would be shared equally between them.

The woman asked her Libyan friend whether he was interested in setting up a joint business venture, importing food and beverages for re-export to the Libyan market. The man agreed to the proposition and handed over a cheque for €4,000, so that his business partner might secure the delivery of five containers of merchandise from Cyprus. Two months later, the promised goods had not arrived.

Criminal proceedings for misappropriation and fraud were filed against the woman. Sciberras had testified that the alleged victim had handed over the first sum for her own personal use, after she had told him that she was at the time going through a rough patch.

She further admitted that she had used the €4,000 cheque to purchase clothes and hampers from Catania, insisting, however, that the victim had known about this.

However, on the basis of all the evidence, including the victim’s testimony which was corroborated by the depositions of a Customs Clearance Officer, an auditor and the victim’s employer, the court concluded that the misappropriation had been proven.

The court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, declared the woman guilty of misappropriation.

In view of her criminal record, the fact that she had not refunded the victim and was unlikely to do so on account of ‘her precarious financial state’, the court sent her to a jail for three years.