Holidaymaker admits to stealing €850 from hotel reception

A man on holiday in Malta has been handed a suspended sentence after stealing hundreds of euros in cash from a hotel reception desk.

Inspector Brian Xuereb arraigned Oscar Israel Menacho Alvarez, a Peruvian-born Spanish citizen, before magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo on Thursday.

Alvarez, 48, was charged with stealing around €850 in cash from a receptionist at the Alexandra Hotel in St. Julians. 

Inspector Xuereb told the court that the defendant was currently on holiday in Malta, and had been residing with a friend in Msida, but had since been kicked out of her apartment.

The theft took place on the morning of April 16 and is understood to have been committed together with another suspect, who is currently still on the run, wanted by the police.

Alvarez pleaded guilty to a solitary charge of theft, confirming his admission when given the opportunity to retract it.

The inspector confirmed that the stolen cash had all been recovered by the police.

Alvarez was sentenced to tw years imprisonment, suspended for four years. The court explained to the defendant that if he were to commit another crime anywhere in the EU in the next four years, his two-year prison sentence would be reactivated.