Employee fined for stealing TV

 A STATE official who stole a television set from the Border Development Authority  (BDA) which employed him has been fined K600.

Lae District Court magistrate Sasa Inkung found Fred Waso guilty of stealing the set with the help of others.

The court heard that between March 18 and 20 while employed as a crewman on a BDA vessel, Waso conspired with three others to remove the television set from the vessel.  The vessel was anchored at the DCA shoreline in Lae, Morobe, after one of its voyages.

Police prosecution told the court that the LG 21-inch TV was put on a floater and taken ashore while Waso was looking after the vessel.

The court also heard that during the same period, some equipment such as the ship’s  GPS device and VHF also went missing.

Inkung when reading the police brief in court noted that Waso did not own up when questioned. But he was identified by some people as the person in possession of the TV.

Waso told the court that he had taken the TV to his home because there was no one to look after it. He denied the theft charge.

When asked by the magistrate whether he had sought permission from his superiors before removing the TV, he said no.

Inkung told him that what he did was wrong as the property belonged to the BDA.

He was fined K600 of face a jail term of 12 months.