BY ROMINAH FAKA
The sentence against a former Bank South Pacific teller who had admitted to stealing is expected to be delivered on May 29.
Tessa Solenone Rore pleaded guilty in the previous hearing to two counts of larceny by servant and one count of forgery of certain documents with intention to defraud.
Yesterday prosecution and defence gave their mitigation statements to the court.
Crown highlighted to the court the Victim Impact Statement (VIS) from the BSP where they suffered loss as there was no recovery of the money the accused had stolen.
Defence emphasised the early guilty plea by Ms Rore which saved court’s time and resources.
Defence also highlighted Rore’s remorse for her action, adding that she had written an apology letter to the bank manager on August 10, 2020, two days after she was suspended.
The delay in the case proceeding was also touched on by defence as a mitigation factor for court to take note of.
Defence counsel also sought court for her to file a sworn statement for her client and served it to prosecution before close of business yesterday.
Court adjourned to May 29 for sentence.
Bail was extended for Rore.
The allegation said Rore was employed as a Money Gram Teller at the Bank of South Pacific Limited (BSP), Central Honiara branch, since April 16, 2015.
The allegations against the accused arose when BSP customers made an enquiry to the bank about suspicious withdrawals and deposits in or from their personal bank accounts in 2020.
The accused was removed from the till and the BSP Operational Risk Unit conducted an internal assessment.
It was discovered that the shortage amount from the till was around $422,737.40.
The accused took out money from the till or drawer, which resulted in cash shortages and she would do withdrawals from customer’s accounts to balance the till at the end of each business day.
Prosecution further states, on the next business day, she would deposit the money back to the customer’s account from the till.
The total amount the accused stole was more than $500,000.
It has been discovered that the accused had done these fraudulent transactions on 40 customers’ account since April, 2020.
In the month of August 2020, the accused was officially terminated from her employment.
Jonathan Auga of DPP Office act for the State and Emy Rusi of PSO act for the Accused.
