THE fate of the former Central Bank officer Philip Bobongi will be decided soon.
The prosecution and the defence counsel have already presented their closing submissions on Monday before Justice Leonard Maina.
Bobongi was accused of stealing more than $1.7 million of the bank’s muted notes.
No specific date has been fixed for Bobongi’s judgment as it was adjourned generally.
The court will notify both the prosecution and the defence counsel once a date has been set.
Bobongi, 44, had been tried in a hearing that saw a total of 13 prosecution witnesses testifying in court.
The accused in his defence gave an unsworn statement.
This was in relation to the 38 counts of money laundering and two counts of larceny & embezzlement he was being charged with.
Prosecution alleged he stole the muted notes from the bank between 2007 and 2009 when the bank was in the process of destroying them.
It was further alleged that he deposited certain amounts into his Bank of South Pacific (BSP) Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and that of his wife’s, at different times.
Prosecution also alleged Bobongi used part of the money to pay for properties and some of the muted notes were allegedly found in his brief case when police searched his house.
But Bobongi denied all the allegations in his unsworn statement.
He said he never at any time stole the bank’s money.
The accused said that the money found in his house and those in his bank accounts were that of his many businesses he operated and logging proceeds of logging carried out on his family’s tribal land.
He further added that he was not the only person accessing the bank vaults as some of his colleagues also have access.
Wayne Ghemu and Sevuloni Valenitabua of Public Solicitor’s Office represent Bobongi while Crown Prosecutor Maito’o Hauirae and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Ronald Bei Talasasa are representing the Crown.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
