Former employee of then PWD sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for abuse of office

A former employee of the then Public Works Department has been sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Suva High Court.

Kiniviliame Taviraki was charged by FICAC with one count of Abuse of Office and three counts of Causing a Loss in 2014.

Taviraki had pleaded not guilty but changed his plea last November.

He was found guilty and convicted accordingly in March this year for his role in causing a loss of $8,838.24 while serving as a Senior Technical Officer at PWD.

Taviraki had received an earlier sentence of six years imprisonment in 2017 in another case involving similar corruption‑related activities resulting in the defrauding of his former employers.

High Court Judge Justice Riyaz Hamza has ordered that this additional sentence be served concurrently with his existing sentence and did not fix a non‑parole period.

Taviraki will receive his third sentence for similar crimes in September this year.

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