Man found not guilty of usury

A man who loaned another €13,980 was this morning found not guilty of usury but was fined €500 for threatening the borrower.

John Cardona, who borrowed the money from Francis Gabriele, accused Mr Gabriele of extorting an exorbitant amount in interest in an attempt not to pay back a sum he had legally borrowed.

Mr Gabriele had given Mr Cardona the money after they signed a contract with the condition that Mr Cardona would pay back the amount within three months.

The court heard that the payments were irregular and at one point Mr Cardona had an outstanding amount of €2,796.

Mr Cardona filed a police report about Mr Gabriele and claimed that he had threatened him. He claimed to have paid Mr Gabriele €34,950 over a period of six years and that he had initially borrowed only €230.

Testifying Mr Gabriele admitted to threatening Mr Cardona to pay the money back and said that he had given Mr Cardona almost €14,000 and that a contract had been drawn up.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli found Mr Cardona’s testimony to be not very credible and said that it seemed that he invented the whole scam in order to avoid paying the outstanding amount.