Court refuses Maladina application

A motion by former National Provident Fund board chairman Jimmy Maladina, seeking default judgment of a claim of K2.65 million against the state, has been refused by the court.

Maladina filed a claim against the state last year over the K2.65 million restitution he paid to the state on July 24, 2015, prior to the National Court handing down its sentence in the criminal proceeding against him on 13 August 2015.

The claim stems from the criminal case which he stood trial over from 4 May 2015.

Justice Hitelai Polume Kiele refused the application for default judgment against the state as there was no clear pleadings of ownership of the K2.65 million cheque.

Evidence before court showed the cheque payment was made by Islands Builders and Constructions and not Maladina.

Islands Builders and Constructions was not a party before court.

The Court found the payment was made on Maladina’s full knowledge however, he did not meet the requirements and elements for default judgment to be entered against the state.

The court refused the motion and ordered him to pay his own cost in this claim case.

Maladina was convicted on 21 June 2015 based on circumstantial evidence for conspiring with Herman Joseph Leahy, Henry Fabila, Shuichi Taniguchi and Kazu Kobayashi between November 1, 1998 and October 10, 2000, to defraud NPF and the state of K2.65 million by fraudulently increasing the construction cost of the NPF building, now The Tower.

He was also convicted for misappropriating K2.65 million between February 26, 1999, and July 30, 1999.

He was sentenced to 8 years in prison on 13 August 2015 however, the court used its discretion to fully suspend that sentence because he repaid the monies. It was also suspended due to the long undue delay to have the matter tried in court.

Maladina was instead put on a good behaviour bond of two years. 

Committal for the case was done on Oct 21, 2004. An indictment was presented in court on Aug 11, 2008 however, the actual trial did not take place in the National Court until May 4, 2015.

A successful appeal saw the conviction quashed by the Supreme Court. It found that the trial Judge’s decision was based on circumstantial or indirect evidence, and the state did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. 

This decision was quashed on 20 April 2016 after they found that there were series of errors on law and finding of facts which led to Maladina’s conviction then.

 

(File picture of Maladina, left, in 2015)

Author: 
Sally Pokiton