Monrovia – Two clergymen of the Mission For Today’s Church based in the borough of New Kru Town have been found guilty for theft of property and misapplication. But both men have since appealed against the verdict to the Supreme Court.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian, [email protected]
Bishop Manaseh Conto and Pastor Steve Kettor were both declared guilty for the crimes after the Criminal Court “C” Judge Blamo Dixon handed down final verdict in the case on Thursday, April 5, 2018.
“Wherefore and in view of the foregoing and the law controlling, it is considered opinion of the Criminal Court “C” that co-defendants Bishop Manaseh Conto and Pastor Steve Kettor are hereby guilty of the crimes of theft of property and misapplication of entrusted property,” said Presiding Judge Blamo Dixon.
Defense counsel Cllr. Sam Cooper took exception to Judge Dixon’s ruling and appealed to the Supreme Court, which was accepted to by the judge.
As part of his ruling, the judge ordered Bishop Conto to restitute the amount of US$9,500 and fined him US$100; while Pastor Kettor was also ordered to restitute the amount of US$30,123.10 and a fined of US$200.
The court also withheld the sentence of imprisonment and suspends probation for the two guilty men, present in court for the ruling in keeping with the relevant provisions of the sentencing guidelines booklet of the Judiciary.
The guideline, which is part of the law, but most times ignored by judges, was re-awakened recently by the Judiciary as the means for judges to hold conference with the defense lawyers to know much about the defendant(s) before a sentence is pronounced.
Both Conto and Kettor were indicted on May 26, 2016 by the Grand Jury of Montserrado County on charges of theft of property and mis-application of entrusted property based on a complaint filed by Korean businessman Hungchi Choi, the General Manager of the Korean Trading Company. This Asian businessman is involved in the sales of used vehicles and spare parts imported from Korea.
The indictment stated that Kettor, who was recommended by Bishop Conto to the company to serve as general manager while in the employ of the company was entrusted with 31 vehicles valued as US$155,930.00 but Kettor allegedly sold the vehicles when his boss Choi had fled the country for Korea due to the Ebola crisis in July 2014.
“Co-defendant Kettor entered into car rental contracts with some institutions, engaged in business activities and also entered into an agreement with the World Food Program (WFP) along with co-defendant Conto and Henry Smith who is at large and owner of the SCAK Group of Companies,” quoted the indictment.
The defendants Kettor and Conto during the trial pleaded not guilty to the charges but during his testimony in the course of the trial, defendant Conto admitted that he took a Combi bus from Pastor Kettor while serving as general manager of the company and paid the advance of US$5,500 and promised to pay the balance of US$5,000 at a later date while he also made a promissory note on March 2, 2015 to pay the balance of US$5,000 for the Combi bus and US$4,500 for several mobile phones that Choi entrusted to him for sale while away from the country.
For Pastor Kettor, he testified and told the court that Choi entrusted in his care 29 vehicles, 20 of which were in running condition, while the remaining were not in running conditions and the prices of the 29 were stated.
According to Kettor, he generated the amount of US$111,000 but spent portion of the money on payment of salaries, registration of vehicles, Christmas bonus for employees of the company, repairs and construction of office space for the company.
“I transferred the amount of US$19,000 to Choi while he was away. I sold seven cars out of the 29 cars but the buyers did not make full payment,” said co-defendant Kettor.
Meanwhile, Judge Dixon stated in his ruling that the summary verification of the transactions the amount of money alleged in the indictment sued for was US$117,084 and not US$155,000 as initially stated.
The state was represented in the case by Cllr. Jerry Garlawolo, Atty Bobby Livingstone while the defense counsels were also represented by Cllrs. Dempster Brown, Sam Cooper and Thompson Jargba.