The former CEO of Televise Samoa Corporation has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after being found guilty of 67 counts of theft which involves more than 20 thousand US dollars.
Leota Uelese Petaia who is holder of the chiefly title Tuiasau, was sentenced on Friday in the District court in Samoa following a hearing last year where he denied the criminal charges after a police investigation into a complaint by the Fiji Sky Pacific pay TV network.
The presiding judge, Tauiliili Harry Schuster says the complainant had made an agreement with Samoana Broadcasting limited to stop collecting fees from local pay TV customers.
However the employees of the broadcasting company had continued to do so and the money was used by the defendant.
Leota is a well-known journalist who was the former editor of the daily newspaper in Samoa.
