Suva lawyer Mohammed Saneem has accused FICAC of misleading the court by failing to provide requested disclosures.

Mr Saneem made the accusation in court in the case of Sarika Devi Raj, a former finance officer with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.

The case was called before Suva Magistrate Pulekeria Low to check on the prosecution’s compliance with the provision of disclosures to Ms Raj’s lawyer.

But FICAC prosecutor Lavenia Ravuikadavu told the court they had provided these, with the remaining documents served on Wednesday.

This prompted Mr Saneem to say FICAC was misleading the court because it filed an affidavit in response to an application which it had initially agreed to provide.

He said under the law, the prosecution should provide disclosure documents to the defence.

Ms Ravuikadavu said she personally met the RFMF’s legal department director who gave only one disclosure document relevant to the case.

She then asked Mr Saneem to specify which documents he needed from the RFMF’s 150 HR manuals and instructions.

In reply, Mr Saneem asked that the RFMF provide all disclosures so they could decide their next course of action.

Magistrate Low advised both parties to disclose the documents required.

“You’re both senior counsels, deal with each other in terms of what is needed in disclosures,” she said.

FICAC has been given 14 days to file the requested disclosures.

Ms Raj faces two counts of abuse of office for alleged offences committed between September 20, 2019, and June 19, 2020.

She is accused of failing to declare her status as the sole proprietor of Maleka Investment, an active vendor for the RFMF, where she worked, and allegedly gained $182,404.99 in the process.

Ms Raj’s variation of bail ruling has been adjourned to January 23.