A father and son appeared in the Lautoka Magistrates Court last Friday charged with various corruption-related offences.

The Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) charged Ronald Ritesh Narayan, a former employee of the Ministry of Health (MOH), with four (4) counts of “Abuse of Office” and one (1) count of “Obtaining a Financial Advantage”.

His father, Sat Narayan was charged with one (1) count of “Obtaining a Financial Advantage” for offences alleged to have been committed from September 2016 to October 2017, where $101,041.12 was acquired.

The former MOH Executive Officer is alleged have, on four (4) occasions caused tenders of the Ministry to be awarded to Brink Home Builders, his father’s company, for works in the Nukuilau Nursing Station, Bukuya Health Centre, Ba Mission Hospital and the Raiwaqa Health Centre.

FICAC State Counsel Francis Puleiwai informed the Court that first phase disclosures were served to both the accused who were represented by Aarti Swami.

Ms Puleiwai further informed the court of her intention to transfer the case to the High Court once the election is put to the Accused, to which Ms Swami requested time to advice her clients.

Resident Magistrate Rangajeeva Wimalasena released the two on bail, to provide two (2) sureties each with bail bond of $1,000, issued a Stop Departure Order, and instructed them to report to the FICAC Lautoka office once a week and to surrender their passports and not interfere with Prosecution witnesses.

The matter was adjourned to 25 September 2018 for second phase disclosures to be served.