Santo businessman jailed for misappropriating VT1.6 million meant for school land lease
July 7, 2026 11:21 pm | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook
By Terence Malapa.
A businessman from Santo has been sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment after the Supreme Court found him guilty of misappropriating VT1.6 million entrusted to him to secure land for an educational institution.
In the judgment delivered on 29 June 2026, the Supreme Court convicted Donald Restuetune of misappropriation under sections 123 and 125(b) of the Penal Code. The case was heard before Justice Viran Molisa Trief.
The Court heard that in 2008, Mr. Restuetune was entrusted with VT1.6 million by the Listair Advent Training Institute Committee (LATI) to obtain lease title No. 03/OG52/004 at the Melcoffee Sawmill area in Luganville, Santo, for the school’s premises.
The funds were provided through several withdrawals and bank transfers between August and October 2008. However, the Court found that Restuetune failed to use the money for its intended purpose, did not provide receipts to LATI, and instead registered the lease solely in his own name.
Justice Trief said there had been a verbal agreement that the lease would initially be registered in the names of Restuetune, Mr. Tasso and Mr. Leeman until LATI became formally registered, after which ownership would be transferred to the school.
Following LATI’s registration with the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission in June 2010, Restuetune refused to transfer the lease to the institution.
Investigations by representatives of LATI later revealed that no payments had been made towards the school’s lease. Instead, the Court found that payments had been made for another lease held by Restuetune personally.
As a result, LATI was forced to pay an additional VT962,000 to the Department of Lands to secure the lease.
The dispute eventually reached both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in 2015. Consent orders issued by the Court of Appeal declared that Restuetune held the lease in trust for LATI and required him to immediately transfer the lease into the school’s name.
The lease was finally registered in LATI’s name on 20 November 2015.
Justice Trief found that Restuetune had converted property entrusted to him by using it for a purpose different from that intended, causing financial loss and delaying the school’s ownership of its land for more than five years.
In determining sentence, the Court noted several aggravating factors, including a serious breach of trust, dishonesty and deception, planning, the fact that the victim was an educational institution, the significant financial loss suffered, and the absence of any prospect of reparation.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of 12 years’ imprisonment.
The Court adopted a starting point of three years’ imprisonment.
In mitigation, the Court considered that Restuetune is 50 years old, has tertiary vocational qualifications, is married with children, has no previous convictions, operates a business employing six permanent staff, has an existing bank loan of VT6,500,000, cares for his elderly parents, and suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure. These personal circumstances resulted in a six-month reduction.
The final sentence imposed was two years and six months’ imprisonment.
However, Justice Trief ordered that only six months be served immediately, with the remaining two years suspended for two years.
The Court said immediate imprisonment was necessary to reflect the seriousness of the offending, denounce the breach of trust, and deter similar offending, particularly given that the amount misappropriated was substantial.
Restuetune was warned that if he commits another offence within the two-year suspension period, he will be required to serve the suspended two-year sentence in addition to any further penalty imposed.
He has 14 days to appeal the sentence.
