Prison for man who stole credit card details to book holiday

A Peruvian national has been jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to using a woman’s credit card to book a €600 holiday.

Edison Carlos Perez Acosta from Lima, who lives in a hostel in Malta, admitted to charges of fraud.

The accused had taken photographs of his roommate’s credit card, which she had left lying around, and then used the numbers to book flights and accommodation online. 

Inspector Jonathan Ransley told Magistrate Joe Mifsud that Acosta’s Spanish victim had filed a police report on 27 September.

When the Peruvian man was arrested, he had told the police that the woman who reported him had been an ex-girlfriend who had caught him with another woman and who wanted revenge. Police investigations subsequently revealed this to have been a lie.

Inspector Ransley said that Acosta’s mobile phone contained information showing that he had committed similar crimes in other countries.

The accused’s legal aid counsel, lawyer Fransina Abela asked the court to hand the man a suspended sentence and order his deportation.

The prosecution disagreed, however, pointing out that for such crimes, there was a punishment of between six months and four years’ imprisonment. 

The court disagreed with the defence’s submissions, stating that whoever lives in Malta must be protected from crime. The magistrate, however, took into account the man’s early guilty plea.

He was jailed for eight months and ordered to repay the money.

Noting that the accused had asked to be sent back to Peru, the court ordered that after serving his sentence and reimbursing the victim, Acosta should be repatriated.