Serial gambling led to life of debt and fraud for Iklin shooting victim

Vincent Xuereb, the victim of Thursday’s shooting in Iklin, was a serial fraudster and constantly indebted due to his gambling addiction.

Xuereb was a known fraudster, with court documents confirming that he had already been convicted in court of multiple fraud cases.

On Wednesday, 24-year-old Ryan Sultana was arrested after he allegedly shot 55-year-old Xuereb with a shotgun, in an argument they had after an apparent road rage incident. Xuereb was grievously injured but is not in danger of losing his life. Sultana appeared in court on Friday, but was not granted bail.

Sultana, a gardener from Iklin, stands accused of shooting Xuereb and is facing other charges related to misuse of a firearm, causing violence and breaching the public peace. 

Xuereb was found wounded in the shoulder and bleeding on Triq il-Wied at around 3.30pm, a few metres down the road from two wrecked vehicles that had been involved in a collision. Xuereb will also be investigated, prosecuting lawyer George Camilleri told the court.

In 2019, Xuereb was found guilty of defrauding an individual over €2,000 in 2007, through the use of forged cheques. He had been handed a two-year suspended sentence.

In May 2018, he admitted to and was found guilty of defrauding a number of individuals and entities, for a total of around €15,000. Forged cheques had been used in this case as well and he had been handed a three-year probation sentence.

During this sitting, the court had learnt through Xuereb’s daughter, that Vincent Xuereb had a severe gambling addiction, which had landed him in huge debt.

According to the daughter, although he had worked all his life, he had to sell three homes to make up for the debt and was constantly threatened by his creditors. Xuereb was in fact a victim of usury and this took a toll on his mental health as well.

On the other hand, in 2011, Xuereb was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years, after a violent incident. He had grievously injured one policeman and slightly injured three others, after disobeying their orders and threatening them. This had occurred after he was involved in a fight, where he slightly injured another three individuals.