Mr Yanou Babo Ullin, a 37-year-old Cameroonian who came to Malta temporarily, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and was sentenced to 2 months' imprisonment, suspended for 4 years.

He was arraigned in Court by Police Inspector Anna Marie Micallef, who yesterday evening was informed by the Customs Officials at Malta International Airport of a warning they had received about the accused.

Upon being searched, the accused was found to be in possession of stacks of black paper, of the exact same size and similar feel as a €500 note.

In his statement to the Police, Mr Ullin said that he had come to Malta to shoot a movie with some African friends of his, depicting the journey embarked upon by Africans to come to Malta, and subsequently portraying some of them as falling into the bad habit of black magic, by using the black paper.

He also said that he bought the stacks of black paper for €33 from a stationery in France, as he had come from Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport via AirMalta.

His statement was not deemed trustworthy by the Police, as the fact that the paper was of the same size and feel as a €500 note, combined with the fact that he failed to indicate the African friends he was supposed to meet and the Bugibba bar which he was supposed to meet them at, led to the belief that he was lying. 

As a result, he was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud in front of the Court of Magistrates.

Mr Ullin, represented by legal aid lawyer Dr Patrick Valentino, pleaded guilty to the charges as the prosecution and the defence had already agreed that no effective imprisonment should be imposed and the Court obliged.

Magistrate Dr Francesco Depasquale thus imposed the aforementioned suspended sentence on Mr Ullin, and ordered that he be detained by the Immigration Authorities and accompanied to Malta International Airport tomorrow, where he is to embark upon a flight back to Paris in accordance with the return ticket he possesses.