Credit card-stealing fraudster pleads guilty

A man from Msida has admitted to stealing credit cards and defrauding a number of shops.

Serbia-born Matea Jugovic, 24, appeared in the dock before magistrate Francesco Depasquale this afternoon, charged with three counts of fraud and one count of theft. The cards had been stolen from eight individuals, the court heard. He had used them to purchase computer equipment from different shops.

Inspector Christina Delia, prosecuting, told the court that the man had cooperated with the police and returned whatever could be returned. He had problems which required supervision, the court was told.

Lawyers Franco Debono and David Harding, defence counsel to Jugovic, entered a guilty plea. The man had a clean criminal record and had cooperated with the investigation, they said during submissions on punishment.

The court found the man guilty and sentenced him to one year in jail, suspended for three years. It also placed him under supervision for three years.