Two of the three individuals charged with defrauding more than $70,000 from the Bank of South Pacific will contest the confessions they made to their employers.
Alexander Fong and Hirdesh Chand, alongside Irfan Mohammed, face a charge of conspiracy to defraud causing loss.
Their case was presented before magistrate Yogesh Prasad in the Suva court for an additional pretrial conference ahead of the trial set for August.
It’s alleged Mr Fong, who held the position of senior manager support services at BSP, colluded with Mr Chand and Mr Mohammed to privately sell vehicles owned by the bank to outside parties.
The action was in breach of the BSP Group’s motor vehicle policy and resulted in a loss of $71,700 to the bank from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021, in Suva.
On June 24, state lawyer Pooja Mishra told the court she would rely on the confessions made by Mr Fong and an affidavit provided by Mr Mohammed. The two men are disputing this based on alleged false promises, trickery and inducements.
Mr Prasad has allowed defence lawyers time to submit their voir dire grounds.
Meanwhile, Mr Fong has requested that he change his lawyer and engage the services of Jiten Reddy lawyers, who currently represent Mr Mohammed.
Mr Prasad pointed out Mr Reddy could not represent both Mr Mohammed and Mr Fong due to the potential for conflicting evidence during the trial.
He cautioned Mr Fong that changing lawyers at the last moment should not be seen as a tactic to delay the proceedings since the trial date would remain unchanged.
Mr Fong was advised to reconsider his choice as the magistrate did not wish to declare a mistrial.
Mr Mohammed’s attendance has been excused for the next pretrial conference.
The trial is set to begin on August 5.
The matter has been adjourned to July 3.
