Former BSP teller who stole more than $500k gets 2 years, 8 months prison time
BY ROMINAH FAKA
The former teller of the Bank of South Pacific (BSP) has been sentenced to two years, eight months in prison for stealing.
On Friday June 28 Principal Magistrate Beneteti Tearo delivered the sentence ruling to Tessa Solenone Rore.
Tearo highlighted that Ms Rore pleaded guilty on February 14, 2024 to two counts of larceny by servant and one count of forgery of certain documents with intention to defraud.
Prosecution along defence agreed and submitted the agreed facts to the court, indicating that the amount stolen by Rore was more than $500,000.
Principal Magistrate Tearo took into consideration aggravating factors in the sentencing.
These factors included the significate amount of money stolen, the breach of trust involved since Rore was a BSP teller and the financial loss suffered by BSP due to Rore’s actions.
In addition to the aggravating factors, court also took into consideration mitigating factors submitted by defence.
For the mitigation factors Rore is first time offender who had no previous criminal record, early guilty plea in which she admitted her wrong at an early stage of the legal proceeding. And her personal circumstances, here her lawyer submitted a sworn statement indicating remorse for her actions and her participation in church activities, which reflects her rehabilitation.
Court orders the following sentence for Rore count 1 larceny by servant – one year in prison, count 2 larceny by servant – two years and six months in prison, and count 3 forgery of document – two years and eight months in prison.
Court has ordered that the sentence for all three counts against Tessa Solenone Rore will run concurrently. Therefore, Rore will serve a total of two years and eight months in prison for three counts combined.
Jonathan Auga of Director of Public of Public Prosecution Office act for the crown and Emy Rusi act for Rore.
