BY ROMINAH FAKA

THE case involving a man arrested by the Janus Task Force for forgery with intent to defraud or deceive the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification was heard in the Magistrate Court on Wednesday this week.

Chrisbane Hebala, 47, was charged with 11 counts of forgery with intent to defraud or deceive contrary to section 341 (1) of the Penal Code.

During the hearing, the prosecution made an application under Section 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to amend the initial charge originally filed on October 16, 2024.

The prosecution submitted an amended charge dated June 11, 2025, requesting that it replace the original charge.

The court granted the prosecution’s application, ruling that the amended charge would supersede the initial charge and the defendant was formally discharged from the original charge.

The defence counsel raised no objection to the amended charge upon reviewing it. The court adjourned the matter to July 10, 2025 to allow time for the defence counsel to obtain instructions.

The charge is related to the allegation that occurred in 2021, 2022 and 2023 at the time when Hebala was a sales manager with Raretech Enterprises, a Honiara based business which supplies ICT equipment and services.

Prosecution alleged that the defendant Hebala provided multiple false invoices from the competitors to the Ministry of Mines Energy and Rural Electrification, in order to ensure that Raretech Enterprises provided the lowest quotation for goods and services, ultimately securing contracts worth almost $ 400,000 over two years.

An investigation by Task force Janus is made up of specialist officers from the RSIPF and MoFT internal audit office, led to the arrest of defendant Hebala.

Taskforce Janus was established in August 2016.

John Wesley Zoze is prosecuting and George Gray represents Hebala.

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