Six years in jail for cheating

A MAN from East New Britain who was charged with forgery and uttering and misappropriation has been sentenced to six years with hard labour at the Kerevat jail.
The decision was handed down by the National Court acting judge Justice David Susame on Tuesday.
The court heard that Keith Ling committed the offence when he was employed by Sankamap Export Ltd, a local cocoa and copra exporting company operating in Buka, Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
Ling stole K102,345.24 for his personal benefit while he was working as a cash payout clerk .
It was alleged that Ling falsified figures and other information in the acceptance forms and receipts and stole from the surplus cash he had in his possession.
He used some of the stolen money to buy cigarettes, drinks and betelnuts for himself and fellow workers and the other rest of the money was deposited into three different bank accounts, one of which belonged to his mother and another to his sister while the third was his own.
Ling committed the offence between May 2014 and May 2015 until the fraud was discovered by company owner Robert Critchley.