Lawyer committed to trial for alleged forgery 30 years ago in Hitron case

LAWYER Rio Fiocco Remo was yesterday committed to trial in the Waigani National Court relating to forgery and uttering charges allegedly committed 30 years ago.
Magistrate Tracy Ganaii ruled in favour of the police prosecution, finding sufficient evidence against Fiocco, 57, a naturalised citizen, on allegations of facilitating a change in the ownership of Hitron Pty Ltd.
The prosecution received evidence from six witnesses who corroborated against Fiocco regarding the alleged offences.
One of the witnesses, Martin Landu, with his aunt, the late Ato Bernadette Adams, started Hitron Pty Ltd in 1981 in Goroka, Eastern Highlands by contributing K5,000 each for the start-up of the television venture.
Landu alleged that her aunt’s husband, Theo Adams, an Australian, introduced them to expatriates Lindsay Jorgensen and John Morgan, both employed by PTC (now Telekom).
While the business grew in 1982, Ato Adams discovered (1985) a loan taken without their consent allegedly by the two who already left Goroka for Port Moresby.
In 1989, while in Port Moresby, Lindsay Jorgensen and Anne Margaret Ames through their Lawyer Fiocco allegedly took over the company’s (Hitron) shares and directorship.
Landu alleges that Fiocco wrote a letter to the National Investment and Development Authority (NIDA, known today as Investment Promotion Authority) dated Oct 18, 1989.
The letter included form 43 and form 44 (dated Feb 20, 1988) with an uncommissioned statutory declaration (dated March 16, 1989) detailing their removal as owners, shareholders and directors of Hitron Pty Ltd.
The court was told that there was no share transfer certificate attached with the two forms to validate the transfer of shares, which was a requirement under the Companies Ordinances 1963.
The court heard that Fiocco, when interviewed by police, said that it was not a legal requirement to send copies of the share transfer certificate. Fiocco is to return to the committal court on March 26 for his statement.
Magistrate Ganaii told Fiocco that even if there was insufficient evidence in one of the charges, he could still face trial if evidence was made in relation to the other charge since both (forgery and uttering) are different.
The court then found evidence into Landu and Ato Adams’ removal as shareholders and directors of Hitron pertaining to forms 43 and 44.
This was corroborated by the legal officer of IPA, who stated that Fiocco disregarded the companies’ ordinances by not annexing a minute resolution with the forms.
This was submitted in the police prosecution’s case during submissions, informing the court that no formal company meetings took place prior to the removal of Landu and Ato Adams.
Ganaii then rejected all of Fiocco’s defences after assessing the evidence.
“After assessing all evidence on the police files with the defences’ submissions, this court finds that there is a prima facie case to put the defendant to trial for both charges of forgery and uttering under the criminal code,” Magistrate Ganaii said.
Fiocco is to return to the committal court on March 26 for his statement.