Biman Prasad case: Court hears why two FICAC witness statements were excluded

A Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) investigator has maintained that two witness statements sought by lawyers for former Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad were excluded from the current case file because she considered the witnesses unreliable.

FICAC investigator Asenaca Niumataiwalu gave evidence before Resident Magistrate Yogesh Prasad at the Suva Magistrates Court today during a voir dire hearing.

Senior defence lawyer Richard Naidu sought an explanation from FICAC on why two witness statements taken for case file FEP 41/25 were not included in the current case file, FEP 89/25.

At the previous hearing, Mr Naidu and co-counsel Asish Nand told the court that FICAC had lifted one witness statement from the previous file into the current case and questioned why the other two statements were not included.

During examination-in-chief, Ms Niumataiwalu told the court there were two separate complaints brought to FICAC's attention, both involving allegations that Mr Prasad had failed to declare assets.

She said the only difference was that the allegations concerned two companies belonging to him – Lotus Building Services and Platinum Hotels & Resorts Pte Ltd.

She said she first investigated Lotus Building Services in 2024, retrieving documents and recording witness statements from the Fiji Elections Office, National Federation Party and other institutions related to the complaint.

Four statements were taken during that investigation, including statements from Fijian Elections Office Manager Legal Mesake Dawai, National Federation Party (NFP) general secretary Kamal Iyer, its registration officer Dalip Kumar and former NFP president Tupou Draunidalo.

Ms Niumataiwalu told the court that at the end of the investigation, she recommended to her team leader that Mr Iyer and Mr Kumar were not reliable witnesses.

She said this was because of an encounter with the two men when a search warrant was shown to them at the NFP office in Tamavua on September 3, 2024.

She told the court they were arrogant, withheld information and hurled vulgar language at her and her team leader.

The case was closed by former FICAC Commissioner Barbara Malimali sometime in 2025 before the investigation into Platinum Hotels & Resorts Pte Ltd, under case file FEP 89/25, was opened by current Acting FICAC Commissioner Lavi Rokoika on July 4, 2025.

Ms Niumataiwalu testified that she only added Ms Draunidalo's witness statement to the current file because she considered it more reliable and sufficient to address the elements of the alleged offence.

During cross-examination, Ms Niumataiwalu told the court she had no jurisdiction to disclose any witness statement to the defence.

However, she agreed that the documents may have helped the defence case. She told the court she was not the officer who recorded Ms Draunidalo's statement but was the investigator who lifted the document from the closed file, along with Mr Dawai's statement, for inclusion in case file FEP 89/25.

The court heard that the investigation concluded on October 23, after which it passed to the team leader, chief investigator, manager investigator and then the FICAC legal team for further assessment before Mr Prasad was charged on October 27.

Ms Niumataiwalu also confirmed that Ms Draunidalo's statement was taken on October 30, 2025, three days after Mr Prasad was charged.

Magistrate Prasad will hear final submissions from both parties today before delivering his ruling and proceeding with the trial.

Mr Naidu had also sought a private meeting with FICAC in the Magistrate's Chambers, but the request was turned down by the Magistrate on the grounds that it was an open court matter and was not appropriate.