Man arrested for not paying for furniture he took on time payments

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A taxi driver who owes over $3,000 to a local business has been arrested and he’s now charged with stealing after he failed to pay what he owed to a local business.

Albert Tofili made his initial appearance in court last month.

He is charged with one count of stealing to deprive the owner of a local business and appropriate his property, to wit; a living room set belonging to the Chin Store & Corporation, which has a valued at $100 or more, a class C felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of for up to seven years, a $5,000 fine, or pursuant to A.S.C.A 46.2101, a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of said crime, up to a maximum of $20,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Bail is set at $5,000.

THE CASE

On August 18, 2020 a supervisor of the Chin Store & Corporation called the Tafuna Police Station (TPS) requesting assistance and reported a taxi driver by the name of Albert Tofili (the defendant in this matter) has owed the company money since April 2019.

The person who called the TPS was interviewed by police.

According to the supervisor, another employee who was a cashier explained the original transaction — whereby Tofili walked in with a cashier’s check in the amount of $400 for a down payment on a living room set worth $2,400, leaving a balance of $2,000.

Tofili also asked to buy another set of furniture with an additional cost of $1,229. He deposited a check of $200 for the second set of furniture leaving a balance of $1,029.

The total balance Tofili owed to the Chin Store & Corp. was $3,029.

The two furniture sets were delivered to the Tofili residence in the village of Tafeta after he (defendant) promised to pay the balance at the end of December 2019. He told the owner of the business that his two sons residing in the States would be sending him the money to pay off the company. However, Tofili did not keep his promise, nor did he show up to make any payments.

The cashier made numerous phone calls to Tofili telling him he needed to come in and make a payment, but Tofili from the time the calls began in late 2019 until now, did not come in to pay off the remaining balance.

On Apr. 10, 2020, Tofili showed up at the company’s location to request an extension on his payment and was given a Promissory Note (PN) to sign. Tofili signed the Promissory Note agreeing to make the full payment in the amount of $3,029. by Aug. 10, 2020.

According to the company, Tofili failed to meet the deadline, and the company then reported the matter to the police. Total amount owed at this point after was $3,139, which includes the late payment fee in the amount of $110.

The company also told police that Tofili was planning to leave the territory as soon as the borders opened.

Last month, investigators went to Tofili’s residence and asked him if he could come to the TPS to discuss the matter regarding money he owed to the Chin Store & Corp.

Tofili agreed and drove himself to the TPS in his own vehicle. When asked by investigators regarding this matter, he admitted that he owed $3,139 to “his friend’s business” in Tafuna, however, he stated that the reason why he refused to pay the remaining balance was the fact that the furniture was not of good quality.

He told investigators that three months after he bought the two sets of furniture, he observed that the furniture was not ‘new’ — that it was used furniture and he believed that the money he paid is more than enough for the used furniture.

Tofiili’s case is now in High Court and another hearing is set for next month.