Sheppard’s case deferred for a month

By BOURA GORUKILA
PROMINENT lawyer Greg Sheppard, of Young and Williams, charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud and two counts of false pretence involving more than K268 million belonging to Western people’s dividends community mine agreement trust fund, had his case adjourned for a month for the investigator to collect two more documents to complete his file.
The investigator had instructed prosecutor Chief Sgt Polon Koniu that a month’s adjournment would be sufficient for them to collect a National Executive Council decision and a search warrant to get documents from Westpac bank.
Magistrate Tracy Ganaii, in the Waigani Committal Court, allowed the adjournment and directed that the investigator file affidavit evidence on the status of investigations before close of business yesterday.
“Prosecutor has got some instructions, verbal instructions that the investigator seeks a month’s adjournment to get those two documents and that is sufficient for the court,” she said. “I will accept those as the status for now, but I will direct that the informant file affidavit evidence before 4.06pm (yesterday).”
Sheppard’s lawyer Nerrie Eliakim had asked for the matter to be struck out because the matter had been before the court for three months and a one week since Sheppard’s arrest on Jan 21, and there was no hand-up brief.