A 28-year-old man by the name of Dillon Kenneth Junior Bartolo was arraigned in court for posing as a priest collecting money for charity. Remanded in custody pending sentencing, he plead guilty to defrauding a 90-year-old man of around €3,000. Appearing before magistrate Rachel Montebello, inspector Clayton Camilleri told the court that last July, the accused knocked on the elderly man’s door posing as ‘Dun Gwakkin’. 

He claimed that he was collecting money for charity, and proceeded to meet the man several times after that. The police were notified of what was happening and moved in to arrest the accused, finding the two at an ATM where the victim was withdrawing money. Bartolo pleaded guilty to fraud charges, making fraudulent gain insulting or threatening persons in excess of the limits of provocation, assault, harassment, making threats and misusing electronic telecommunications equipment to commit extortion. 

Bartolo’s lawyer Marouska Debono argued that when withdrawing cash from the account, Bartolo would give some to the victim and keep the rest for himself. With the total amounting to €3,000, the accused was confirmed to have manipulated the victim into believing he was someone else. 

The crimes took place over the last two months, despite the accused knowing the victim for over eight months. The lawyer added that Bartolo was being chased by drug dealers to whom he owed money. As the accused allegedly wept during the hearing, the lawyer explained that he had almost lost an arm in a workplace accident and needs rehabilitation if not going to prison. 

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Photo Source: Barker Collars