Court grants bail to father of three in custody over false pretence

By GIDEON KINDIWA
A FATHER of three has been granted bail after his lawyer submitted that he is a single parent and his children need him.
Sinega Suvara, 46, from Kairuku, Central was charged with one count of false pretence and one count of uttering false information and had been in custody since Feb 21.
His lawyer, from the Public Solicitor’s Office, told the Waigani Committal Court that Suvara had three children aged eight, five and two and there was no one to look after them as his wife had passed away.
“Although there are other relatives, they also have their children to look after and he is concerned about their safety as all of them are very young. The defendant is also a first-time offender,” he said.
He said Suvara was unemployed and lived at Bench Peak settlement in Hohola, Port Moresby, with his children. His lawyer said Suvara was willing to pay K300 for bail and two persons would support him as guarantors by paying K100 each.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Peter Samghy did not object to the application and magistrate Cosmas Bidar granted the application.
The offence happened on April 18, 2012 at Hohola Stage 4 where Suvara allegedly lied to Gabriel Alone that his name was Suvala Larove and he was selling a piece of land at Hohola Stage 4 on the hillside for K2300. Alone paid the full amount and they signed a statutory declaration.
Two months later, the same piece of land was sold to another person who went ahead and cleared the land. Alone called Suvara several times but Suvara went into hiding. Alone later found him and took him to a village court where Suvara said his father sold the land to another buyer.
After that, he went into hiding again. Alone called him several times asking for reimbursement but Suvara ignored his calls.