Trial deferred till June

The three week trial of the former Native Land Trust Board Director, Keni Dakuidreketi, former Managing Director Kalivati Bakani and Alanieta Vakatale has been deferred to sometime in June.

The trial was set for the 2nd of next month.

In court today Dakuidreketi’s lawyer Wylie Clarke filed further submissions and Justice Daniel Gounder said that he has not read through the submission because he was in Labasa last week.

Justice Gounder is expected to reply to the submissions and set a trial date on the 16th of May.

FICAC lawyer Madhawa Tennakoon also highlighted that some documents are not in his possession and he requested 10 days to gather all the trial documents.

In reply, Justice Gounder told Tennakoon that he must sort these issues out as he does not want to go ahead with the trial without the proper agreed facts.

Dakuidreketi, Bakani and Vakatale allegedly conspired together and with others between March 2004 to November 2005 to effect an unlawful purpose namely the defrauding of NLTB of its Trust Funds valued at $3.7 million and a Government Grant valued at $1 million by causing the payments of these funds to support a defunct Information Technology System called MYSAP.

It is alleged that Dakuidreketi and Bakani had fraudulently converted the $1 million government grant into operational costs on the 10th of November 2005 for the implementation and maintenance of the MYSAP system.

It is also alleged that Bakani and Vakatale between March 2004 and April 2005 whilst being employed in the public service, had executed a Business Solution Agreement on behalf of NLTB’s Board of Trustees in contravention of the Native Land Trust Act which are arbitrary acts in abuse of the authority of their respective offices and prejudicial to the rights of NLTB and its beneficiaries.

Meanwhile Devinesh Sharma will not represent Bakani in the trial and has handed all the disclosures to Filimoni Vosarogo.

Semi Leweniqila who is representing Vakatale was not present in court today.


Story by: Tokasa Rainima