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Police v Satuala [2014] WSSC 150 (14 July 2014)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
Police v Satuala [2014] WSSC 150

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA

HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN:

POLICE
Prosecution

AND:

FUIFUI also known as SAINA SATUALA, male of Ma’agao and Neiafu Savaii.
Defendant

Counsel: O Tagaloa for prosecution
Defendant unrepresented

Sentence: 14 July 2014

SENTENCE

1. Fuifui appears for sentence on thirty (30) charges of altering an official document and thirty four (34) charges of theft as a servant. The summary of facts from the police which Fuifui has admitted says that he is a 36 year old male of Ma’agao and Neiafu married with one child. At the time of this offending he was employed as a truck salesman for one of the local wholesale companies.
2. As a salesperson on the truck he was responsible for selling the goods and accounting for all the monies received from customers. What he did was he falsified certain documents by marking invoices that have been paid with the phrase “not paid” and keeping the money. In this way he stole $38,896.86 from his employer over the period October 2013 to March 2014 a period of some 6 months. The theft caused considerable loss to his former employer, none of which has been recouped or repaid.
3. Fuifuis pre-sentence report says that he has not even attempted to apologise to his former employer for what he did. It also indicates the money was used for his own personal purposes including buying alcohol for him and his friends to party with. There is little in the defendants favour except his previous good character and his guilty plea.
4. Theft as a servant is a very prevalent offence in our community. The normal penalty for it is therefore imprisonment. The courts message to everyone is if you steal from your employer you are highly likely to go to jail. There is no question that in your case an imprisonment penalty is required. So that you are deterred from doing this again in the future. So the public understands the consequences of this sort of offending.
5. The maximum penalty for theft as a servant is 10 years in prison. Considering all the circumstances of your matter Fuifui we will start sentence at 5 years. From that the first deduction you are entitled to is a quarter deduction for your guilty plea which has saved the courts time and resources. That is a deduction of 15 months leaves a balance of 45 months. You are also entitled to a deduction for your good background and previous good character as outlined in the pre-sentence report, and to reflect your service to your village and your ekalesia as confirmed by your faifeau and your pulenuu. To also reflect you have a clean police record. For all those matters I deduct 6 months leaves a balance of 39 months in prison.
6. There are no other deductions that can be made Fuifui for your case. In respect of the charge of theft as a servant you will be convicted and sentenced to 39 months in prison. On the false accounting charges you will be convicted and sentenced to 2½ years in prison but all terms are to be concurrent.
   

JUSTICE NELSON