Woman gets 5-year jail term for stealing

National

By HEZRON KISING
THE Lae National Court jailed a woman for five years for stealing more than K53,000 from a company she worked for as an accountant in 2016.
Pauline Rabi Stephen, from Finschhafen district in Morobe, appeared before acting judge John Numapo on Thursday and was found guilty on one count of stealing and four counts of misappropriation.
Numapo said the defendant had held a very senior position as an accountant in the company and the degree of trust was abused.
“She committed the offence within an eight-month period when the managing director of the company was overseas.
She was put in charge and she abused her position for her own greed and selfishness,” he said.
The court heard that she continued maintaining her innocence even after her conviction.
She denied the offence and had not shown any remorse. In her defence submission she was willing to repay the money.
However, Numapo said: “Repaying the money does not mean that she would not be punished for breaking the law. It is not a civil debt that once the payment is made it is all over. Court’s opinion is that a custodial sentence is the most appropriate form of punishment for the case.
“If the theft or misappropriation involves a servant or an employee involving the amount from K40,000 to K150,000, a jail term of three-five years should be imposed.
“However, on many occasions in past sentencing, guidelines merely serve as a guide and does not take away the ultimate sentencing discretion of the presiding judge.”
Numapo said the court also considered factors that included:

  • The impact of the offence on the public and public confidence;
  • the use to which the money was put to, was it on useful purposes or wasted on someone’s enjoyment and lifestyle;
  • its effect on the victim, was it covered by insurance or it would be a complete loss without any possibility of recovery; and,
  • Remorse and restitution (repayment) made soon after the offence is committed.

The court heard that on April and Nov 2016, Stephen stole K28,000 belonging to Troy Fairweather, of Pagini Transport Ltd, by using his bank card (ANZ premium card) and withdrew various amount from ATMs. She also used the bank card to purchase things from shops without the complainant’s approval.
Between Aug 1 and Sept 31, 2016 she misused a sum of K9,552.21 that was meant for hire cars on her business travels in Port Moresby and Alotau.
And in October she again misappropriated (dishonestly applied) a sum of K15,000 allocated for building a fence on a property in Lae.
The court heard that the total amount of money stolen was K28,500 and total amount misappropriated was K25,035, bringing the grand total to K53, 535. The court handed down a four-year jail term for misappropriation and one year for stealing. Two months were deducted for time spent in custody.
If she repays the full amount, three years will be suspended.

2 comments

  • Go rot in the jail. Some of your poor parents and brothers and sisters sweating to earn honest living and you just sitting in the office and stealing these amount of money. Kisim ah, you tink ba u ron away? Go sleep lo kalabus na filim pastem.

  • wanpla useless finschaffen..bagarapim name blo ol gutpla morobeans and finschaffens…
    useless…go and rot in prision

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