American attorney and Palau’s first Interim Special Prosecutor has filed criminal charges against a former member of Palau’s police force over missing monies from a prostitution case.
Former Police Officer Norman Bintorio has been charged with one count of theft of government property in the second degree and one count of misconduct in public office allegedly over missing evidence from the Encounter KTV raid that were reportedly found in his possession.
Based on information submitted to the Court, the former Criminal Investigations Division (CID) Officer brought the evidence home after logging out the items in the evidence log out book, however it appears that BPS personnel were not aware of the missing evidence until a request to review the items was made by the Office of the Attorney General in February 2015.
The evidence, according to the Affidavit of Probable Cause submitted by Investigator Dolyn Tell, consisted of various currencies including about $3,382.76 US Dollars of whom $998.96 was unaccounted for when Bintorio finally returned them.
Bintorio reportedly could not provide an explanation regarding the missing monies and believed he returned all the evidence. In addition to admitting to removing evidence from BPS, Bintorio admitted he got “lazy” and at which point brought them home against procedure.
The case was filed in early May where Bintorio entered a not guilty plea. If convicted of charges, he could face up to 10 years imprisonment including up to $25,000 in fines.