Former Post Fiji Limited CEO Anirudha Bansod has been sentenced to 1 year 6 months imprisonment for abuse of office.
According to the charges, Bansod provided false confidentiality and conflict of interest declaration for the tender of the design, development and implementation of the Post Fiji Mobile Application in 2022.
While sentencing Bansod, Magistrate Yogesh Prasad says the accused, as pointed out by the prosecution, breached the trust of a government enterprise, which gave him the power to make good corporate decisions in the best interest of the company.
Magistrate Prasad says some mitigating factors are that the accused is a first offender, he pleaded guilty and is deeply remorseful of his actions.
The starting point of the sentencing was 3 years and Magistrate Prasad enhanced his sentence by 2 years for the aggravating factors but reduced Bansod's sentence by 2 years for the mitigating factors.
Magistrate Prasad further suspended his sentence by 1 year 6 months for pleading guilty but he will serve 1 year 6 months in prison.
He says the Court notes that the offence of abuse of office is designed to safeguard the integrity of government institutions from systematic corruption and abuse of power.
