A FORMER senior research officer at the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) head office in Suva has been sentenced to five months and two weeks after being found guilty of bribery.
Magistrate Vinaina Diroiroi sentenced Josaia Waqairatu in the Suva Magistrate’s Court on October 9 on two counts of bribery.
The court heard that between September and December 2019, while serving as a senior research officer assisting with a land lease process for one Varun Anand, Waqairatu solicited and accepted advantages of $250 and $200 from Anand.
The payments were solicited and received on the pretext of fast-tracking or circumventing TLTB procedures to secure the pending leases.
Magistrate Diroiroi noted that offences of corruption erode public confidence and trust in the administration system, emphasising the necessity for a strong message of general deterrence to public servants.
“Public servants must be held to a high standard as persons in positions of trust and authority,” Magistrate Diroiroi stated.
The court initially set an aggregate sentence of seven months’ imprisonment, alongside a fine of $200 payable within one month.
Waqairatu was also ordered to pay $200 in restitution to Anand within one month.
Taking into account the six weeks Waqairatu spent in remand before sentencing, Magistrate Diroiroi deducted the period as time served, leaving an actual sentence of five months and two weeks to be served immediately.
