The State v Isaiah Guda

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: (2015) N5955
• Date: 15 April 2015
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2015

Full : CR (FC) 47 OF 2014; The State v Isaiah Guda (2015) N5955

National Court: Salika, DCJ

Judgment Delivered: 15 April 2015

CRIMINAL LAW - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE—Sentence—dishonesty offence—dishonestly applying property to his own use—s383A of Criminal Code

PRACTICE and PROCEDURE—Sentence—Funds belonging to an Incorporated Land Group - Prisoner not an authorised person to withdraw monies belonging to the Land Group. Prisoner illegally withdrew K436,000 belonging to the Moga Incorporated Land Group.

Cases cited:

State v Mathew Kana CR No 843 of 2012

State v Ludwina Tokiapron (2005)

State v Niso (2005) N2930

State v Buygonnes Tuse Nae (1996) N1474

State v Pongowen Popei and Mark Regione CR 659 and 660 of 2012

1. SALIKA DCJ: Introduction: The prisoner in this matter pleaded guilty to one count of dishonestly applying to his own use and to the issue of Tony Dunstan and Karen Rema K436,000.00 the property of the Moga Incorporated Land Group.

2. The prisoner Isaiah Guda and another person namely Tony Dunstan on different occasions between the 1st day of July 2012 and the 31st day of August 2012 withdrew K436,000.00 from Moga Incorporated Land Goup’s (ILG) account held at Bank South Pacific (BSP). The prisoner and Tony Dunstan were assisted by their lawyer, Karen Rema of Pang Legal Services and the banks inhouse lawyer Robin Kawat to withdraw the monies from the Moga ILG account.

3. At the time of the commission of the offence, the prisoner was not the authorised person to withdraw any monies, dispose of or deal with the Moga ILG account however the prisoner applied to have another Moga Land Group recognised. This was to enable him and Tony Dunstan to access and withdraw monies. The prisoner and Tony Dunstan did this by falsely producing to the Bank South Pacific a Certificate of Recognition. This Certificate of Recognition recognised the prisoner as the Chairman of the ILG which therefore gave him the authority to withdraw the monies from the account. They then successfully withdrew monies from the account to a total of K436,000.00

4. During the commission of the offence, the Moga ILG account was frozen under a National Court Restraining Order. The order restrained any persons from withdrawing any monies or dealing with the account. The prisoner and his lawyer Karen Rema knew very well that there were Restraining Orders in place over that account because that same Restraining Order restrained the complainant as well as that of the prisoner. Despite that Restraining Order the prisoner and Tony Dunstan withdrew from the account. They also made a payment of K5,000.00 to their lawyer Karen Rema for her assistance.

5. Tony Dunstan, Karen Rema and Robin Kawat have never...