Usury victim convicted of theft and fraud

Alistair Charles Stewart, 37, born in Cheltnham, England and residing in Paola, was handed a suspended jail term after pleading guilty to stealing a cheque book and defrauding Michelina Bonnici.

The case goes back to December 2011 when, finding himself in dire financial straits, Stewart turned to usury. Through the help of others, he approached a man who lent him money at extortionate interest rates. But as time went by, the accused could not pay the moneylender.

At the end of 2011, the accused noted that a certain Michelina Bonnici, who lived in the same block of apartments as him, had not retrieved a chequebook from her letterbox. Bonnici had been recovering at a home for the elderly. Stewart stole the chequebook from the letterbox and paid the moneylender with a forged cheque.

Jonathan Ferris prosecuted, charging Stewart with fraud, forging documentation, stealing from Michelina Bonnici and filing a false police report. The accused admitted to the charges.

Considering the facts of the case and that the accused admitted to the charges early in the proceedings, Magistrate Doreen Clarke found Stewart guilty and handed him a two-year jail term suspended for three years.

Sources close to the investigators told MaltaToday that other people are expected to be arraigned in connection with this case. Amongst these are the person who acted as an intermediary between the victim of usury and the moneylender, and the moneylender himself.