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Court Report

MAN IN STABBING CASE FACING FELONY ASSAULT

 

 The Attorney General’s office has charged Pati Solomona with first degree assault on allegations he stabbed another man with a broken glass during a drinking session. Solomona who’s held on $20,000 bail was arraigned in the High Court on Monday, where he entered a plea of not guilty to the assault count.

 

According to the government’s case, the defendant was at a party, when a verbal argument started. It's alleged Solomona stabbed the victim in the neck with a broken beer glass. Court filings say when police officers questioned the defendant, he admitted he punched the victim, but denied stabbing him with an object, however witnesses at the scene told police otherwise.

 

The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. He suffered a five-inch laceration on his neck, which was four inches deep, right below his left ear; and was admitted to the Surgical Ward for observation.

 

CASE OF FORMER HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE POSTPONED

 

 A former finance officer with the LBJ hospital charged with one count of stealing, Felise Toilolo (also known as Leesha)  was in court for her pre-trial conference. Toilolo is accused of misappropriating hospital funds to the tune of $4,000.

 

Her attorney, Fiti Sunia informed the court that there is a second defendant in this case who has yet to be arrested and charged.

 

He asked the court reschedule this matter to a later date in order to await the co-defendant in this case. Assistant Attorney General Julie Pasquale told the court that it is her understanding the other defendant will return to the territory voluntarily to answer to the charges in this case. Chief Justice Michael Kruse rescheduled the matter to January 10, 2014.

 

The government initially charged the defendant with embezzlement and stealing, however during a preliminary examination hearing before District Court Judge John Ward, he ruled that the government did not have sufficient evidence to bind over the embezzlement count.

 

According to court filings, Toilolo and former Hospital Business Manager Jennifer Tofaeono’s names are on the arrest warrant and the affidavit supporting the criminal charges filed in this case, however Tofaeono has since left the territory.

 

In the government’s case, the investigation by OTICIDE was initiated by the former Chief Financial Officer of LBJ Hospital, “V.B.”, who’s no longer working for the hospital. 

 

Court filings say V.B. began her investigation into reports that over the course of several years, from May 2009 through June 2011, credit cards were being run on LBJ credit card machines and the receipts were then used to collect cash from LBJ cashiers.

 

Court filings say that VB noted that she collected any and all existing credit card receipts related to LBJ credit card machines along with the associated bank records and available daily cashier reports for the time period under investigation, from about May 2009 through about July 2011. Multiple original copies of daily cashier reports from September 2010 through 2011 were not able to be located during the course of the investigation.

 

Toilolo in a statement to the hospital said she would use her credit card to obtain cash from the LBJ merchant machines, but could not remember how many times or for how much.  She further stated that she saw Tofaeono run her credit card as well on a daily basis and deposit the money into her account.  However if Tofaeono was off-island, other employees  would input Tofaeono’s credit card numbers into the LBJ machines and run the transactions for cash, fill out the deposit slip, and then turn the cash over for deposit into Tofaeono’s account. 

 

“Jennifer TOFAEONO is the person who would settle the machine — in other words, post all credit card transactions to the bank at the end of the day," say court documents.

 

WOMAN FACING ROBBERY AND STEALING CHARGES

 

A woman is being held on a ‘no bail’ status on charges of first degree robbery, stealing and public peace disturbance (PPD).  Rotorua Toailoa made her initial appearance in the District Court last week and the government filed additional charges yesterday. The defendant is represented by Assistant Public Defender Matthew Trick while prosecuting this matter is Assistant Attorney General Tifanny Oldsfield.

 

According to the government’s case, the woman went into a sewing shop and threatened one of the seamstresses in an attempt to take money from her. Initially her bail was set at $2,000 however when her case was called it was uncovered that she is here illegally and District Court Judge John Ward set a no bail status for the defendant.