Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo raised to $25,000 cash the $5,000 bail imposed on Rolando Enriquez Pude, 43, who is being held on the charge of felony theft.
He was remanded to the custody of the Department of corrections after his initial appearance yesterday morning.
Chief Prosecutor Michael Ernest represented the government while Assistant Public Defender Douglas Hartig was appointed by the court as Pude’s counsel.
Detective Jackson W. Jack said the Department of Public Safety received a call from an accountant for Genpro International regarding a theft case on Oct. 2, 2010.
Pude, a salesman, collected a total of $21,732.65 from several companies on different dates, but never turned over the money to his company.
“Pude was called into the office and he admitted that he did collect the money and that he used [the money] for his personal needs. He was later terminated [from work],” Jack said.
The company only learned about the theft after accountant Jeneth Zinampan called one of their customers about their payment.
The client said they already made a payment.
“Zinampan began tracing back all of the sales and it showed that there was a lot of shortage of money,” Jack said.
Police said Pude has a gambling habit — he bets at cockfights and plays poker.
Pude sold one of his cars and may be attempting to flee the island, according to Jack.
Pude has been a salesman for Genpro for the past 13 years.
“Pude was so trusted that whenever he picks up money from his sales he would only take the money and not issue receipts to the customers,” Jack said.
