Panapasa's counsel, Kevin Skiba submitted to the court that FICAC got their charges wrong as Panapasa was appointed by the Constitutional Offices Commission and is therefore not a civil servant but a public official.
Skiba also says that FICAC has failed to prove its abuse of office charge.
He further says that the discarded materials that was used to build a fence at Panapasa's personal residence was for security reasons, and also that she was not given government quarters.
Panapasa's counsel also insisted that she did not get any personal gain from it.
FICAC says that according to witnesses there are still processes and procedures in place that need to be followed in order to use discarded materials.
They argued that according to a witness there was no payment made for the discarded materials which means there was a loss.
FICAC says, according to a witness, when it comes to used materials, they are either burnt, buried or, if they still have some value, sold.
They say that there is still a case to answer.
She is charged with two counts of abuse of office and an alternative count of general dishonesty causing a loss.
It is alleged that between August and September 2023, Panapasa instructed officers to use building materials purchased for the Fiji Corrections Service at her private residence.
It is further alleged that between August and October 2023, she instructed officers to alter a weekly report to include paragraphs justifying the use of the materials at her residence.
