BY MELVILLE TITIULU
The Honiara Central Magistrate’s court has heard the ‘Not Guilty’ pleas of three people accused of theft of around $2 million worth of beche-de-mer and cash yesterday.
Frank Firimolea of Ngaliwao village, Malaita Province, was charged alongside Mrs Donsia Deresi and Rickson Suiti Abana. Mrs Deresi and Mr Abana are mother and son.
All three accused were charged with housebreaking and committing a felony contrary to section 300 (a) of the penal code as read with section 21 (a) of the penal code.
Prosecution alleged that Mr Firimolea, together with Deresi and Abana, at Honiara, Guadalcanal Province, on August 29, 2025, broke into a warehouse storage and container storage, a property belonging to one Mr Zhong Ruwei of Chinese nationality.
It was alleged that items valued at $2 million were stolen, which included 22 bags of beche-de-mer and $100,000 in cash.
It further alleged that the trio, with the help of others, gained entry into the storage facility. They used three vehicles to transport the stolen items from the warehouse to Tenaru, East Honiara, with a view to concealing and retrieve later.
Police managed to arrest Deresi on September 29, 2025, with some of the stolen items also recovered. Her son, Abana, was arrested on December 22, 2025, after evading police arrest for months following the warehouse incident.
Principal Magistrate Felix Hollison, in view of their ‘Not Guilty’ pleas, directed that the matter be adjourned to June 5 for Pre-Trial Conference (PTC).
Principal Magistrate Hollison further directed that parties must file the PTC documents before the next mention.
In the meantime, Bail for Mrs Deresi and Remand for Mr Firimolea and Abana have been extended.
Steward Beto represented the Office of the Public Prosecutions, and Mr Jason Anisi and Mr Harry Luahiti, both from the Public Solicitors’ Office, represented the three accused.
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