A man who bought and sold 180 vehicles over a span of seven years managed to get paid more than €43,000 in unemployment benefits during that time.

A court has now ordered the used car dealer to refund the money, turning down his attempt to convince it that his trading in cars and motorcycles was due to a mental disorder and that he had not made a profit from it.

The man, whose name is being withheld due to his mental condition, was investigated by Social Security Department after it emerged that he had received thousands of euros in social benefits, including unemployment benefits.

This was while he was involved in the purchase and sale of 180 cars and motorcycles between 2012 and 2018.

The department requested that he refund the benefits he had received during that time.

The man appealed the decision, telling Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff that only 94 of the 180 vehicles mentioned by the department were actually registered in his name. 

Of these, 38 were scrapped or garaged while the remaining 56 were transferred to two friends who were car dealers in exchange for other vehicles. 

He also insisted under oath that he did not profit from the car dealings.  

The department rebutted by saying that in his application for social services in 2011, the man had declared that he had no assets except a Rover. 

However, a list compiled by Transport Malta showed that the man had 186 vehicles registered in his name between 1992 and 2019, including another six at the time of his application. 

In his ruling, Mr Justice Mintoff noted that the man continued to acquire newer models, which showed that he was somehow financing this lifestyle. 

Even if this lifestyle was caused by his mental condition, there were several steps that could be taken not to exacerbate what he called his “financial crisis”, by barring him from making such transfers.

The man’s psychiatrist testified that the man had been his patient for the last 10 years and he was treating him for severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

He told the court the man had started out with a fixed obsession on tattoos and then turned his fixation to cars and motorcycles. He was on medication for his condition. 

The court, however, was not convinced about how the man was financing this lifestyle, especially since he had a wife and daughter to look after. 

The onus was on him to prove that the department had misjudged him and the court found no reason to reach a conclusion different to that reached by the department.

The judge ordered him to refund the benefits.