A former police officer Visesio Sitanisilao has been cleared of forgery. This was the decision handed down by the court last Friday.
Talamua Media reports that the former cop was charged with two counts of forging another police officer, Nanai Vagi Vai’s signature for a loan at the Samoa National Provident Fund.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and the court’s decision has cleared him of those charges.
Chief Justice Satiu Simativa Perese said the prosecution has failed to prove its case and there is no evidence, direct or circumstantial that Mr Sitanisilao forged Mr Vai’s signature on either the consent to guarantee letter or the Deed of Guarantee.
The Chief Justice said in his ruling, in the end Mr Vai’s claims are “mere and unsupported assertions. His denials in his evidence in chief were inconsistent with and contradicted by his email date June 29. 2022.”
He said Nanai knew about his role as a guarantor as noted in his email to the Samoa National Provident Fund.
Further, CJ Perese said Nanai knew that as a guarantor, he was required to sign a Deed of Guarantee.
“A person’s signature evidences their intention to be bound. I find that at all material times, Mr Vai intended to give a guarantee to support Mr Stanisilao and Ms Solipo to get a loan, as they had done for him in the past,” said the CJ.
He said signing of the consent letter to be a guarantor and the signing of the Deed of Guarantee are wholly consistent with such intent, and he is left in no doubt that Vai signed the documents.
The Chief Justice commented, “Mr Stanisilao was not required to give evidence as he has the constitutional protection of being innocent until proven guilty. Yet he took the witness box and exposed himself to cross examination. Mr Stanisilao gave a good account of himself in his evidence about the circumstances around the signing of the Deed of Guarantee, particularly when answering questions from the Court.
“I am satisfied that Mr Vai signed the Deed of Guarantee in the way Mr Sitanisilao explained. The two charges against the defendant are dismissed.”
