A man, roped into a scam intended to defraud a local car company out of some €26,000, was on Wednesday jailed 10 months.

Irrefutable evidence was presented that he had known all along that the plan, if successful, would have resulted in an unjust profit.

Arnold Farrugia, currently serving a lengthy prison sentence over a past conviction, had some six years ago put his signature on a false affidavit intended to be produced in evidence in a civil suit instituted by a third party claiming damages against a motor company.

The whole affair came about when this third party, Martin Degabriele, had hired a minibus from the accused while his own vehicle was undergoing repairs at Gasan Enterprises Ltd., later suing the car company for loss of income suffered in the interim period.

Shortly before filing the civil suit in November 2012, Mr Degabriele had talked the accused into drawing up an affidavit wherein it was declared that the total sum for the lease of the van amounted to some €26,000, far in excess of the actual bill of €8,200.

Although sensing something wrong and questioning the other man about the exorbitant figure, Mr Farrugia had nonetheless accompanied his debtor to his lawyer before swearing the affidavit, upon being reassured that he would be paid his outstanding balance once the funds were retrieved from Gasan.

Yet, during the civil suit, the falsity of the affidavit came to light, prompting the car company to file a police report which, in turn, sparked off the criminal action for the attempted fraud.

The evidence put forward by the prosecution left the court with no doubt that although the accused had sensed that the sum had been purposely inflated and the accused had refused to testify in the civil case, he had nonetheless “knowingly aided and assisted” in the scam.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech noted, on the one hand, that the accused had a tarnished criminal record and was in fact currently serving a lengthy prison term. However, he had cooperated with investigators and had wished to rectify his wrongdoing.