Suspended jail for ex-staffer on 21 counts of false pretence

By ZEDAIAH KANAU
A FORMER staff of Total was jailed three-years by the Waigani National Court but the judge ordered that it would be suspended if the amount of K39,550 obtained by false pretence is paid within two years into a National Court Trust Account.
Justice Teresa Berrigan after delivering the sentence on former government relations officer Enzeng Banabas on Monday, deducted eight-months of custody period, leaving two years and four months to be served at Bomana. Banabas had pleaded guilty to 21 counts of obtaining money by false pretence.
Justice Berrigan said: “It is well settled with respect to offences concerning dishonesty that, in general terms, the greater the amount of money involved the more serious the offence.
“The offences in this case range for the most part from amounts as low as K150 up to K4,500. There is one larger amount of K22,500. In total the offences involved a substantial sum of K39,550,” she said.
“The offender took advantage of his employment with Total.
“The offences were conducted in Total’s office to give credibility to his use and tailored to deceive the particular individual he was dealing with, whether it was a small business owner or a person looking for employment or an opportunity to participate in Total’s graduate programme.
Banabas, 29, of Mataya in Morobe, graduated from the University of Technology with a degree in property evaluation and management in 2013. He joined Total E&P PNG Ltd as a government liaison officer in 2015, where he worked until the offences were detected in 2019.
Between March 1, 2018, and May 31, 2019, Barnabas obtained the money from 21 people on different occasions by false pretence.
He obtained K4,500, K1,200, K4,000, K22,500 and K1,800 by pretending to be project coordinator and similarly stole pretending to be recruitment officer, gradutae programme officer and holding other positions.