Man pleads guilty to fraud and then says he is innocent

A month after admitting to fraud, Olaf Cini has retracted his plea and now says he is innocent after he did not manage to make good for the money defrauded.

On October 7, Mr Cini had been charged with defrauding Angela Hathaway of Lm9,000 and misappropriating the money on and before April this year and relapsing.

Mr Cini, 45, of Paola, had pleaded guilty to the crime and Magistrate Giovanni Grixti put off the case for judgement after hearing that Mr Cini would be able to pay back the money defrauded as he was expecting a business deal to go through.

During the next court sitting, on October 19, Mr Cini informed the court he needed more time to pay. The case was put off to October 27 and, again, for a final time, to Thursday.

But at Thursday's sitting the magistrate heard that Mr Cini was not in a position to pay and that he wished to retract the guilty plea he had filed on arraignment.

Consequently, the magistrate heard evidence in the case and decided there were enough reasons for Mr Cini to be indicted.

Police Inspector Angelo Gafà is prosecuting.

Lawyer Kris Busietta is appearing for Mr Cini.