Man accused of €140,000 'black money' scam

A man allegedly lost €140,500 when he was duped into a black money scam, a court was told today.

Bare details of the case were given during the arraignment of  Michael Camilleri, 29 of Armier, who is pleading not guilty to defrauding Paul Mangion of  €140,500 and stealing the money. He is also accused of teaming up with another man to commit a crime, relapsing and breaching the conditions of a previous release.

Magistrate Anthony Vella denied bail and ordered the assets of the accused to be frozen and investigated.

This was the second such case in seven months.

Last October, a court heart how a French man visited Malta and attempted to embark on a similar scam, which involves persuading victims to buy piles of bank-note-sized paper in a container is cash. The paper is dyed black to avoid detection by the authorities. The victim is then persuaded to pay for chemicals to wash the “money”.

Dr Franco Debono, defence counsel, requested bail but the prosecution objected due to the seriousness of the case and the danger of tampering with the evidence. Bail was denied.