BY JENNIFER KUSAPA
THE man charged with false pretence and attempt to commit false pretence incident in 2019 has been found guilty by the courts.
He will be sentenced later.
Peter Fakaia was charged with three counts of False Pretence and one count of attempt to commit false pretence.
He entered not guilty pleas and a trial was conducted on his case at the Honiara Magistrate Court.
Principal Magistrate Felix Hollison having assessed the evidence provided in court found the accused guilty and convicted him.
Hollison said he is satisfied that crown witnesses are all credible witnesses.
“I am satisfied that the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant by false pretence with the intention to defraud, obtained monies which totalled up to $76,000 from the complainant on September 23, 24 and 25 of 2019 in Honiara for his own benefit”
Fakaia in 2019 faked his own death and obtained $76,000 from a local pharmacist in Honiara.
He had called People’s Pharmacy at the Kwaimani building at Kukum, after taking his medication he then left, however on the next day he returned to the pharmacy complaining that he had allergies with the medication.
He was then given another medication and advised to see a doctor.
On September 23 at about 8am, the complainant received a call through his office phone by a person who purported himself as the accused’s brother-in-law.
The brother in-law told the pharmacist that Fakaia had died and that his body was at the morgue.
Fakaia’s brother-in-law then demanded a compensation of $10, 000 for the cause of death.
The complainant in total allegedly gave $76,000 to the so-called relatives of the accused.
It was on 26 September police were alerted about the incident and police arrested a person who came to collect the last portion of money requested for Fakaia’s death.
Using the accused’s alleged associates; police finally arrested the accused after halting him in his vehicle at the Ranadi Roundabout.
The case will come back in court for sentencing and mitigation submission.
Jonathan Auga of the Public Prosecution appears for the crown while Ben Etomea is representing the accused.
