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By Rolynda Jonathan
The Palau Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has issued a decision upholding guilty verdicts for defendants facing criminal charges in connection to the Pacific Savings Bank case.
The Appellate Division upheld the guilty verdicts against Deborah Rengiil, Margo Llecholch and Sherry Tadao for multiple counts of cheating, grand larceny, embezzlement and money laundering.
The defendants, who were granted conditional pardons in early January 2013 by then President Johnson Toribiong, argued that their due process and Constitutional rights were violated.
The Appellate Division found that the defendants’ rights to due process were not violated and their argument that their right to counsel was violated was without merit, concluding that there was no reason to overturn the convictions.
The three women were convicted of several criminal charges of grand larceny and money laundering in 2011 following a six-year investigation and a three-week trial before former Associate Justice Alexandra Foster.
In September 2012, depositors with unpaid claims of less than $100,000 were reimbursed as a result of the Republic of China-Taiwan’s generosity.