A man was jailed for four and a half years for pretending to work at the Housing Authority and defrauding a man of some €60,000 when he promised to help him buy two garages in Santa Venera.

Magistrate Leonard Caruana found Emanuel Xerri, from Birkirkara, guilty of defrauding the man on and before February 2022 and forging signatures onto cheques. 

The magistrate heard how the victim informed the police he had been defrauded of €60,000 by Xerri. 

Xerri claimed he worked as a messenger at the Housing Authority. He promised the victim he would help him acquire two garages from the authority.

The victim was keen on buying them as this would have allowed him to extend his business which he operated from a garage near the two garages that he wanted to acquire.

Over time Xerri asked him for various payments which he said were part of the transaction.

He even showed the victim fake plans of the garages and made up people he claimed were involved in the transaction.

When the victim realised something was not right, he confronted Xerri who issued two cheques to refund him the money.

But the cheques were forged – issued on a chequebook that had been lost by another man.