Police may charge further people over their alleged involvement in a racket to swindle people into investing in fake social housing.
On Tuesday, a woman was accused of defrauding 26 people out of some €290,000 in an elaborate scheme to trick them into investing in a housing scheme that turned out to be a scam.
Sources told Times of Malta that at least two other people had been arrested and taken in for questioning in relation to the racket in recent days.
It is understood that investigators are looking into whether more victims had been tricked into paying into the phoney scheme, with the possibility of further court charges in the coming days not ruled out.
Sarah Ann Gatt, a 41-year-old Santa Venera resident who works as a cleaner, pleaded not guilty to fraud, misappropriation, falsification of a public document, and private writing, making use of false documents and other fraud-related charges when she was arraigned on Tuesday.
The woman was further charged with allegedly committing these offences while under a suspended sentence and relapsing. Gatt was denied bail.
How did the case unfold?
The case landed on the desk of prosecuting Inspector Shaun Friggieri at the police’s Economic Crimes Unit around a month and a half ago after one of the alleged victims turned up at the Housing Authority to ask about a pending application.
Authority officials soon smelt a rat and informed the customer that the application was probably a fraud.
That query set the ball rolling and further investigations yielded some other five ‘applicants’ who had complained to the authority about their applications to become homeowners.
All these persons explained how they had been approached by two individuals who enticed them into buying housing at a reduced price.
A block for €200,000
For instance, a block of apartments was being offered for €200,000, explained the inspector.
The prospective buyers were assured that they could cancel the agreement at any time and claim their money back within a 30-day period.
Some of the alleged victims were attracted to the offer by relatives who had invested in the scheme, with cases dating back to 2018.
As the police probe continued, the number of suspected victims mushroomed from four to 26 for a total value of around €290,000, with investigations still ongoing, the court was told.
Arrest warrants were then issued against Gatt and two others.