A man convicted of defrauding the Association of Local Councils and the EU of over €5,000 through false names and fake qualifications had his full sentence confirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Court of Criminal Appeal · Judge Dr. Consuelo Scerri Herrera LL.D., Ph.D. · 21 April 2026
Between 2013 and 2016, John Mary Magro (ID 451255M) obtained more than €5,000 by deception — using false names, false qualifications, and fictitious enterprises to win contracts funded by the Association of Local Councils and/or the Agencia d'Ecologia Urbana de Barcelona and/or the European Union through a fraudulent tendering process. He was convicted at first instance and sentenced to 4 years and 8 months imprisonment — a sentence the first court described as within the minimum parameters permitted by law given the circumstances. Magro appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided by Judge Dr. Consuelo Scerri Herrera, rejected the appeal in full and confirmed the sentence without any reduction. The appeal court's reasoning emphasised the seriousness of the conduct: the fraud targeted the integrity of the public tendering process and caused direct damage to Malta's reputation with the European Union. The court noted that the first instance court had already imposed the sentence at the minimum end of the legal range, and found no basis to reduce it further.
Appeal rejected in full. First court conviction and sentence confirmed: 4 years and 8 months effective imprisonment.
Criminal Code Ch. 9 Arts. 293, 308 — fraud (qerq); obtaining property by false pretences; fraudulent misrepresentation