Lawyer accused of illegally obtaining bank statements

By BOURA GORUKILA
LAWYER Greg Sheppard, accused of obtaining Bank of South Pacific Ltd (BSP) statements illegally for a local accounting firm, was read his charges in the Waigani Committal Court yesterday and his case adjourned to Aug 30.
Magistrate Danny Wakikura, after arraigning Sheppard, adjourned his case for instructions on his police file.
Sheppard, 65, from Perth, Western Australia, is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, knowingly and fraudulently uttering a false document and forging a genuine document.
It was alleged that on July 10, in Port Moresby, he attempted to pervert the course of justice by filing a Supreme Court application SCC-OS 03/2021 after illegally obtaining BSP statements from an expert witness, Andy Pape of Pape Accounts and Business Advisers, who is a member of a special police forensic and criminal investigation team, detective Sgt Philip Yonge, detective Snr Const Derrick Tangua and detective Snr Const Belden Robert, after he had been arrested and charged with eight counts of criminal matters.
It was also alleged that on June 17, at Kiunga, Western, Sheppard forged a genuine document, a bank statement of Pape Accountants and Business Advisers, by illegally printing the company bank statements from Aug 1, 2020 to June 17, 2021, from BSP with intent to defraud Pape Accountants and Business Advisers.
Police also alleged that on June 17, he did knowingly and fraudulently uttered a false document, a bank statement of Pape Accountants and Business Advisers in Port Moresby by illegally printing the bank statements from Aug 1, 2020 to June 17 from BSP and presented it the Supreme Court with intent to defraud.
Magistrate Wakikura said all charges were committal matters and would go through the committal process until a hand-up brief was produced and served to see whether there was sufficient evidence to make out a prima-facie case or not.
The court also noted that Sheppard was yet to be arraigned on his other charges of money laundering and misappropriation, pending a ruling on an application pursuant to Section 18 of the Constitution.
His other matter included his co-accused Edna Oai, Anne Smerewai and Boston Kasimani.
The court also adjourned their matter to Aug 30 and extended their bails.