Man admits defrauding HSBC

A 28-year-old man from Mosta has been given a two-year jail term suspended for four after he admitted to defrauding HSBC of €27,000. Carl Vella, a former employee at the bank’s Swatar Contact Centre, which services UK customers, defrauded the bank in July and in the preceding months. He took the money after garnering the necessary information through software. Mr Vella also admitted to the illegal use of software and money laundering. Prosecutor Angelo Gafa noted that the accused had already managed to pay back €10,200. In handing judgment, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera considered that Mr Vella was a first time offender. She ordered him to pay the bank the rest of the money within six months. HSBC said later today that the fraud happened in the UK and not in Malta.