Man admits to stealing K13,000

A man pleaded guilty to stealing K13,000 belonging to one of his landlord’s relative.

Lawrence Marone, from Nipa Kutubu in Southern Highlands, pleaded guilty to two counts of false pretense before the Waigani National Court presided over by Justice George Manuhu today.

The facts of the first count was that on July 4, 2018, he stole K10,000 from his victim at BSP Harbour City in the Nation’s Capital.

The facts of the second count of false pretense was that he stole K3,000 from the same victim between July 7 and 14 at Rainbow, Gerehu, also in the Nation’s Capital.

The court heard that he took the money under the pretense of using it to fund the establishment of a school and promised his victim that he would be receiving 10 percent profit per month as a shareholder.

The court heard that instead, Marone used up all the money.

By July 16 this year, his victim became suspicious and filed a complaint with the police which resulted in today’s court hearing which saw Marone plead guilty to both counts of false pretense.

The prosecution team from the Public Prosecutor’s Office noted before court that Marone had no prior convictions.

Marone’s lawyer from the Public Solicitor’s Office asked the court to further adjourn to allow time for the probation and presentencing reports to be compiled to help the court decide on an appropriate sentence.

Justice Manuhu adjourned the matter to December 9 and ordered that Marone be kept in custody until then.

(Article by Daisy Pakawa - third year UPNG Journalism student) 

Author: 
Daisy Pakawa