Woman freed of fraud charges

A WOMAN, who was charged with being party to misappropriating K88,515 belonging to Erima Primary School, was acquitted of that charge yesterday.
Waigani National Court was told that between Jan 30, 2007, and April 19, 2007, Elsoe E. Siki from Peroma village in Chimbu and other members of the Erima Primary School board signed cheques belonging to the school and used the monies for their own personal use.
Siki was at that time the board secretary and was one of the signatories to the school’s cheque account.
Presiding judge Justice Nicholas Kirriwom, in dismissing the case, said the state was unable to prove that the money was expended for personal use by Siki.
In another case, a female former bank worker who stole money by making electronic transfers of funds belonging to a bank was convicted by the same court for misappropriation and applying it to her personal use.
The court was told that Ulamila August Tokilala from Kokopo in East New Britain worked as an automated telling machine (ATM) custodian for ANZ Bank Ltd when she committed the crime.
Tokilala made an electronic transfer of K20,000 from the bank’s commission local bills accounts to her mother’s account on April 21, 2008.
She later withdrew the money from her mother’s account and applied it to her own use.
Tokilala’s deed was found out when audits on the accounts were carried out.
She pleaded guilty to the charge and apologised to the court for her crime. She asked the court for leniency and is willing to repay the stolen money.      
Court will decide on Nov 24 on Tokilala’s sentence after receiving reports from community based corrections that she has been reporting to while standing trial.