BY ROMINAH FAKA
The health scandal trial which was supposed to begin on Monday this week was further adjourned for March 10 after prosecution made an application in court earlier this week.
Reasons for seeking an adjournment include the prosecutor being sick, and financial problem which the Office of Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) is facing in which there is no funds available for Crown to pay the witnesses’ airfares/seafares, rent accommodations for them while attending trials and receive daily allowances.
Defence counsel Jim Seuika who represents defendant Robert Manu objected to the application for adjournment.
Meanwhile, defence counsels Jennifer Happily who represent Dalipanda, Rochella Pama represents Maena and Mr Taupongi who represents Hatigeva conceded to the short adjournment for prosecution’s recovery and trial to proceed later this week.
Court granted adjournment and directed the trial to begin Monday, March 10 and prosecution to seek funds from the government to bring the witnesses for trial.
Former finance controller Stephen Dalipanda, former Senior Accountant Randy Hatigeva, former Health Procurement Officer Robert Manu and former Accounts Officer Dalcy Maena were charged jointly with two counts of false pretence.
Manu who is charged separately with four counts of Official Corruption was convicted of using his position to expedite and authorise payments to Eroba Shipping totaling up to $1,608,371 by passing the proper procurement procedures in exchange for large sums of money that were deposited into his personal bank account.
Manu was sentenced to two years suspended sentence for corrupting receiving $195,000 in exchange for facilitating payments to a shipping company.
Private local contractor Tigi Sekele, who is also charged in connection to this health scandal, is waiting for his trial.
Sikele faces three counts of false pretence.
The prosecution alleged he fabricated invoices and submitted them to the MHMS to claim the services done.
It was alleged he received three payments worth over $1million to his company for the freighting of materials, which were never done.
The prosecution alleged those payments were done because the defendant fraudulently submitted a fabricated invoice to the MHMS on each occasion between April 2013 and June 2013.
Theses former health workers allegedly caused a total sum of $1,594,935.10 to be paid to a ghost shipping service called the Joke Shipping Services.
The two shipping agents John Biliki and Wesley Poloso of Eroba Shipping Service and Joke Shipping Service defrauded the Solomon Islands Government for approximately $7.3 million.
Taxi driver, Poloso, was already convicted and jailed for two and a half years in 2014 for receiving $1.5 million of the fund.
The matter of the owner of the other alleged fake shipping agent, Biliki was discontinued in 2019 in the High Court after he died from an illness.
These millions of dollars were from the Solomon Islands Government and aid donors to support and improve rural health services.
The prosecution alleged that the defrauding of these monies severely affected implementation of health projects in the rural areas.
John Wesley Zoze prosecuting and Jim Seuika for Manu, Happliyn for Dalipanda, Taupongi for Hatigeva and Pama represent Maena.
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