BY ROMINAH FAKA
The Magistrate Court has refused prosecution’s remand application of a 38-year-old man who was in custody since October 5.
Court instead ordered the accused to pay $1,000 and released him under strict bail conditions yesterday.
Joe Rex Raukaniu is charged with two counts of false pretence.
Police alleged in two separate occasions on an unknown date in February, 2023 Raukaniu told two separate complainants that he was one of the agents who recruited workers for Australia for seasonal.
It was alleged that accused took $2,500 from the first complainant and $2,300 from the second complainant.
Upon receiving the amount, Raukaniu told the complainants that he would update them on the status of their names for seasonal work.
However, the two complainants waited but there was no response from the accused regarding the seasonal work updates he had promised.
So, the complainants went and lodged their complaints with the police.
Police went and arrest the accused on Saturday last week and remanded him in custody until yesterday, where magistrate court released him on bail.
The matter was moved to October 23 for mention. Prosecution to update the court on the investigation’s status on the next mention date and bail for Raukaniu was extended. Georgina Oroi appears for the crown and Wesley Faita’a for the accused.
