K2mil case dismissed due to lack of evidence

By Alphonse Porau

THREE Asians facing fraud-related charges involving more than K2 million had their case dismissed by the Waigani Committal Court yesterday because of lack of evidence.
Magistrate Cosmas Bidar freed Lee Kang Hong, from Malaysia, Nelson Moraga Raphael, from the Philippines, and Iviriana Tanuri, from Indonesia, charged with a count each for conspiring to defraud their employer San Yuan Ltd in Port Moresby three years ago and additional charges of stealing from their employer (two counts) between July 13, 2013 and July 16, 2016.
The court heard that the trio held work permits and passports under San Yuan Ltd at Gordon, a company that selling Asian drinks in the country.
The court heard that Hong worked as sales and marketing manager, Moraga as logistics manager and Tanuri as sales and marketing manager as well.
It was alleged that between July 13, 2013 and July 16, 2016, Hong stole K1,927,307, Moraga stole K321,052, and Tanuri stole K264,091.
They were also alleged to have conspired to defraud the company K5,570,202.
Bidar told the court that considering the information provided, there were no evidence connecting the defendants to the money that they were alleged to have stolen or conspired to defraud.
He said the witnesses fail to explain as to what the bank statements meant in connection with the allegation.
“There were no invoices or receipts provided to prove that payments were made and no evidence stating that the trio conspired to defraud the company of more than K5 million or the money was part of that,” Bidar said.
“Considering the case in totality, the police informant who investigated this allegation, when collecting various statements including the bank statement, lacked information as to how these statements connect to the charges of the defendant.