A Chinese man was yesterday given a two-year jail term suspended for four years and fined Lm1,000 after he admitted to forgery and fraud.

Raman Yu Lei, 34, pleaded guilty to defrauding Yang Haoxiang, Fu Yongian and Bank of Valletta of f2,000 and $2,700, forging documents and making malicious use of the documents on and before July 26. He also admitted to tampering with a passport and driving a car without insurance cover.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti noted that Raman had filed an early guilty plea and had a clean criminal record. He banned Lei from driving for 15 days and bound him to reimburse the injured parties within the next six months. The police have issued a removal order against Raman but Dr Jason Azzopardi, for the defendant, expressed his client's intention to appeal.

Dr Azzopardi explained that the removal of his client from the island could mean that the injured parties would not be paid and was therefore in conflict with the magistrate's judgement.

Police Inspectors Joseph Cordina and Carmel Abdilla prosecuted.