Businessman Sanjay Kaba has been acquitted of a charge of obtaining a financial advantage following a ruling by the Suva Magistrates Court.
The Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption had charged Kaba with one count of obtaining a financial advantage.
FICAC had alleged that while serving as a board director of Telecom Fiji Limited and Amalgamated Telecom Holdings between 2017 and 2018, Kaba used information obtained through his position to secure a project management contract for his company, Houng Lee-Kaba Jacob Pte Limited.
The prosecution alleged that the company later received more than $766,000 from Telecom Fiji Limited as a result.
However, Resident Magistrate Charles Ratakele upheld a no case to answer application filed by the defence.
In his ruling, Ratakele found that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove key elements of the offence.
The court noted there was no evidence that Kaba used confidential information to influence or submit the expression of interest process, and highlighted that the expression of interest was advertised after Kaba had resigned from the boards of both companies.
The Magistrate also found no evidence linking Kaba’s alleged conduct to the eventual financial benefit received by his company, noting that the contract was awarded through a competitive procurement process involving several independent evaluations and approvals.
The parties have 28 days to appeal the ruling.
