Serial fraudster Annabelle Camilleri Monreal was given another suspended jail term after she posed as a maid to steal thousands of euros worth of jewellery.

The 30-year-old from Xemxija duped residence owners into thinking she was an excellent maid but made off with the jewellery.

She admitted to stealing almost €4,500 worth of jewellery and other items from a residence in St Julian’s. She used the same trick to steal more jewellery from a residence in St Paul’s Bay.

Ms Camilleri Monreal is a serial fraudster whose name is synonymous with tricking people into renting apartments and villas that do not belong to her. She has already spent time in jail for fraud and has a list of pending cases.

Magistrate Carol Peralta opted for a suspended jail term as this allows the court to order a person to repay their victims.

She was therefore sentenced for two years in jail suspended for four years and ordered to pay the owners of the St Julian’s residence almost €5,000. She had already settled with the victims of the other theft by returning the stolen items.

In 2013, Ms Camilleri Monreal was convicted in connection with a scam involving Gozo farmhouses, whereby she defrauded six people by taking deposits to rent farmhouses when the properties were not hers.

She was back in court over similar cases last year, pleading guilty to renting an apartment in St Paul’s Bay, making a copy of the key and then taking her victims to view the apartment. She accepted a €600 deposit and €400 for the first month of rent from an Englishman.

A police inspector who arraigned her on one of the cases had told the court last year the police had “a queue” of people waiting to file complaints against her. He said she had entered a vicious circle as she needed to defraud people to repay her previous victims.

Ms Camilleri Monreal has other pending fraud cases, including one in which she is accused of defrauding her former employer, Zahra Trading and Properties.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Angie Muscat and Amadeus Cachia appeared for the woman.