Spending spree leads police to credit card thief

A man with several past convictions has admitted to stealing a credit card and fraudulently using it to make several purchases.

40-year-old Nadim Mharam Abdul Gader Mharam, who had emigrated to Malta from his native Libya in 1996, was arraigned before duty magistrate Ian Farrugia earlier today. Mharam was accused of stealing a man’s credit card and using it to purchase goods from a number of shops in Zejtun and Zabbar in January.

The man was also charged with fraud, simple theft, aggravated theft, attempted aggravated theft and vagrancy, as well as breaching previous bail conditions and recidivism.

Public records of his multiple previous convictions appear to have been erased or taken offline. The only remaining evidence of their existence is the fact that they are referred to in the charges against him, as well as in the one judgment still available online -an acquittal on charges of theft... and recidivism.

Inspector Jonathan Cassar, prosecuting together with Inspector Doriette Cuschieri told the court that the crimes had been committed between January 21 and 22 this year. The credit card’s owner had reported it as having been stolen. He told the police that before the card could be cancelled, he had received notifications about purchases being made on the stolen card. Investigators had obtained copies of CCTV from the shops, which showed the purchases being made by the accused, who had been in the company of a woman at the time.

Mharam had already been in custody in connection with a separate case by the time he was identified from the footage and so was re-arrested at the Corradino Correctional Facility, the court was told.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the charges during his arraignment and was sentenced to imprisonment for two years, suspended for four years, together with the payment of a €500 fine.

Lawyer Mark Mifsud Cutajar represented Mharam as legal aid counsel.