A woman with a long history of rental fraud convictions has been spared a fresh two-year jail term upon evidence that her efforts while in prison deserved encouragement.

Annabelle Camilleri Monreal, 39, who has been serving jail time since 2018 for similar offences, was found guilty of making money by renting out a luxury villa that she did not own. 

However, a Magistrate Court has given her a chance to prove herself after hearing professionals testify that she now realised she could not take shortcuts to make a fast buck.

The case dates back 10 years when Monreal signed a private lease agreement concerning a luxurious villa in Safi which she had received from her grandparents in 2004.

She sent photos of the property to her prospective tenant who signed the deal without ever visiting the villa. 

The tenant also changed her ID card to that address and handed Monreal €1,350 in advance payment of rent, utilities and possible damage to the property. 

However, she never got the keys. 

The victim soon discovered that the villa actually belonged to a married couple who had acquired it through a judicial auction in 2013. 

In September 2014, Monreal reimbursed €1,500 to the misguided tenant and promised to refund the balance, but it took her four years to do so. 

In the meantime, her victim filed a criminal complaint that triggered charges against Monreal. 

In 2021 she was sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Magistrates’ Court. That judgement was quashed over a technicality on appeal through her new lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri. The case was sent back to another Magistrates’ Court as a result. 

When delivering judgment, Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia observed that Monreal had reimbursed the full amount by 2018. The victim testified that she had no further interest in the case. 

The court cleared the accused of fraud but found her guilty of having made a fraudulent gain, recidivism as well as committing the offence in breach of a previous conditional discharge. 

When meting out punishment the court observed that the accused had an unruly criminal record, including eight fraud convictions, document forgery, two thefts, two cases of slight injuries and a number of contraventions.

Improvements in prison

Camilleri Monreal had pulled off similar swindles in the past involving townhouses and apartments in Malta and Gozo. Ten years ago, she pleaded guilty to defrauding a man out of €1,000 when she rented him a Xemxija apartment that was not hers. 

However, over the last years during her time behind bars, Monreal completed five educational courses and did voluntary work at Corradino Correctional Facility and other detention centres. 

Her psychotherapist testified that she was an able worker, but she previously believed that she could make a fast buck.

Today Monreal had changed the psychotherapist testified, claiming she now realised there could be no such shortcuts. 

She also had a supportive family who were willing to offer her a home and a job. 

Her lawyers, Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, argued that she deserved another chance.

The prosecution insisted on an effective term of imprisonment saying that it was only because she was in a controlled environment that the accused had marked improvement. 

The court observed that throughout the proceedings the accused appeared to have done her utmost to reform herself. 

Her efforts deserved encouragement, said Magistrate Farrugia. 

Prison was to serve not only as punishment and deterrence but also to reform those detained so that they might eventually be reintegrated in society. 

Considering such considerations, the court deemed that society stood to make no gain by adding another term of imprisonment.

While not imposing an effective term of imprisonment, the court placed the accused under a three-year probation period to make sure that she would stick to the right path once out of jail. 

The court also fined the accused €1,200 in terms of the breach of the conditional discharge and to cover court expenses.