An American national that was charged for smuggling a briefcase full of illegal Bougainville currency was acquitted from the charges by the Waigani Committal Court on Monday. The court dismissed the case on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to commit the matter to trial.
The American, named as Berry Keith Webb, was apprehended by Port Moresby police and customs officers at the Jacksons International Airport on February 15, 2014 when Customs officials confiscated a briefcase in his possession containing illegal currency worth 1.6 million purported to be Bougainville Kina. He was arrested and locked up at the Boroko police station. The court, after going through the matter, found that there was insufficient evidence given that the purported banknotes did not resemble any legal currency but only samples of money for the Autonomous Bougainville Region, which is a province of PNG. The court also noted that the Governor of Bank of PNG and Customs withdrew their charges on the basis that the bank notes were not legal tender and were only samples. Presiding magistrate Pinson Pipinda therefore ruled that the evidence against the accused were insufficient and the case did not warrant further trial at the National Court. The magistrate also ordered the release of items belonging to the accused, which included his passport and other travel documents. He also ordered that the briefcase can be returned to the accused but its contents, which are the sample bank notes, be destroyed by police. The magistrate further ordered that the accused is at liberty to travel out of the country should his travel documents permit. Many believed that the transporting of the purported Bougainville kina was the work of self-proclaimed king and failed fast money scheme operator Noah Musingku. The case attracted the attention of a lot of people throughout the country who had lost millions of kina in their investment under Musingku’s U-Vistract money scheme. Many of them turned up in court to hear the ruling and were partly satisfied with the outcome of the ruling after the lawyer briefed them on the outcome. Many still have faith that their investments are safe and Musingku had promised that they would still be given their monies. Musingku rules over his self-proclaimed twin kingdoms of Papala and Me’ekamui in Tonu, South Bouganville, as King David Peii II. PNG Facts/ Post Courier Comments are closed.
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