Man sentenced to 10 months jail over complicity in attempted fraud of major motor company

A man with a checkered criminal past has been ordered to serve 10 months in prison over his complicity in attempted fraud. The man, who is already serving a prison term over an unrelated crime, will have another 10 months added to his sentence.

Arnold Farrugia was charged with complicity to attempted fraud, making a false oath in court and relapsing.

The incident dates back to July 2012 when the accused signed a sworn statement saying that a man named Martin Degabriele owed him some €26,000 after Farrugia had been engaged to drive his own van for Degrabiele’s business.

It transpired that a van belonging to Martin Degabriele was in the garage of Gasan Enterprises Ltd for around four months for repairs. Gasan was to pay Degabriele for the costs incurred to rent a van while his own vehicle was undergoing repairs.

Degabriele turned to the accused, Arnold Farrugia, to rent out his van for a duration of four months. Around July 2012, Degabriele approached Farrugia to sign a sworn statement on the amount owed, in order to have Gasan reimburse this figure. The pair visited a lawyer’s office, where Farrugia realised that the amount listed as being owed to him was some €26,000.

From court testimony and the statement provided to prosecuting inspector Maurice Curmi, it emerged that Farrugia immediately realised that the quoted figure was too high for the van trips taken by Farrugia on behalf of Degabriele for the four month period in question.

Farrugia also stated that he could not check himself, as Degabriele had retained Farrugia’s record book and did not want to return it to the accused. Farrugia testified that Degabriele had insisted that they go with what is in the affidavit and that once Gasan paid up, he would pay the accused the amount owed to him. Farrugia had calculated that he was owed roughly €8,200, substantially less than the €26,000 quoted in the figure. From the €8,200, he was still owed some €6,200, and Degabriele assured him that once Gasan paid the full amount he would settle the pending balance.

In November 2012, Degabriele filed civil proceedings against Gasan to recoup the remaining €22,000.

In turn, Gasan filed a criminal complaint against Farrugia and asked the police to investigate whether he made a false declaration and took a false oath. The court noted that Farrugia was cooperative with the police throughout investigations.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, presiding over the case, remarked that Farrugia was definitely aware of Degabriele’s intentions and that the false affidavit was written by Degabriele. The court also remarked that in the civil proceedings instituted by Degabriele against Gasan, Farrugia was called upon many times to confirm his affidavit but refused to do so because he knew it not to be true.

The defence had argued that for Farrugia to be found guilty, he would have had to profit when in reality he was trying to get the amount owed to him. This argument was struck down by the court on the premise that Farrugia clearly knew of Degabriele’s intentions to defraud Gasan, and that to get his money back he knowingly helped and assisted the criminal act to defraud the company.

Ultimately, Farrugia was found guilty of attempted fraud and cleared of all other charges.

The charge was of attempted fraud, rather than actual fraud, because the civil case between Degabriele and Gasan was still pending.

The court, after considering the man’s criminal record, his cooperation with the police, the fact that he is currently serving a long prison term over another crime and all other relevant factors, ordered that he serve ten months behind bars.