A former Chief Administration Officer at the Ministry of Finance who has been found guilty of two counts of corruption related offences, has been handed down a suspended sentence.
Meli Bitu was charged by FICAC in 2014 for one count of Receiving a Corrupt Benefit and one count of False or Misleading Information.
The court was told that Bitu without lawful authority or reasonable excuse received a benefit of $12,592.95 in May 2013.
Bitu also gave information to the former Permanent Secretary of Finance, Filimone Waqabaca with regards to the total cost of a surgery, knowing that the relevant information was false.
Bitu was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for the first charge and 4 months for the second charge.
Chief Magistrate Usaia Ratuvili then gave a suspended sentence of three years.
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