BY ROMINAH FAKA
The retrial of a teacher accused of embezzling $1.3 million from the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) in 2017 and 2018 is set to begin on April 14 and run through April 18, 2025.
During an interim mention last week, the prosecutor and defense counsel informed the court that they had no issues regarding the trial.
The matter has been adjourned to February 21 for the next interim mention. The accused, Cecilia Samani Tome, was excused from attendance, and her bail has been extended.
Tome was initially charged with one count of embezzlement to which she pleaded not guilty. Her first trial was conducted before Principal Magistrate Beneteti Tearo.
In the first trial, no witnesses were called, and the case was decided based on submitted documents. After the prosecution completed its case, the defense lawyer filed a no case to answer submission.
Magistrate Tearo ruled that Tome had no case to answer for the embezzlement charge and subsequently acquitted her of allegations related to the $1.3 million overpayment mistakenly deposited into her bank account.
The prosecution appealed Magistrate Tearo’s decision to acquit Tome, taking the matter to the High Court. After reviewing the appeal, Judge Leonard Maina remitted the case back to the Magistrate’s Court for a retrial before a different magistrate.
At the start of the retrial, Tome pleaded not guilty once again.
The prosecution alleges that in December 2017, two large payments totaling over $3 million were mistakenly deposited into Tome’s bank account. The error reportedly occurred due to a payroll staff member at the Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MOFT) entering a date in the payment system instead of the amount to be sent from the Ministry of Education. This mistake resulted in an overpayment of $3,806,297.77 into Tome’s personal salary account.
The prosecution further claims that Tome embezzled $1.3 million from the mistakenly deposited funds for her personal benefit.
The Crown is represented by John Wesley Zoze from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, while Ben Alasia from the Public Solicitor’s Office represents the accused, Cecilia Samani Tome.
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