A former FICAC investigator told the Suva High Court on Tuesday that email records recovered from government IT systems directly link former health minister Dr Neil Sharma to a controversial 2011 hospital equipment tender, adding new digital evidence to a case that has dragged on for more than a decade.
Alifereti Wakavesi, who led parts of the original investigation, said the emails show Dr Sharma as the primary author of several messages and as a recipient on others. The exchanges involve then-Health permanent secretary Dr Sala Saketa and private-sector figures including Vasu Devan, Irvin Leung and Davina Nalagi. Wakavesi told the court that Leung acted as the contact person for the equipment purchase and had a business connection with Devan, the owner of New Zealand-based bidder Hospineer.
The testimony was presented against the backdrop of criminal charges arising from two Ministry of Health tenders: CTN 66/2011 and CTN 153/2011. Dr Sharma faces four counts, including abuse of office and breach of trust, accused of manipulating the procurement to favour Hospineer. Former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama faces one count of abuse of office over an alleged unlawful tender waiver for CTN 66/2011. Former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum faces two counts, prosecutors allege he approved a waiver for CTN 153/2011 and directed FICAC to shelve the investigation into Sharma between 2012 and 2019 — a move prosecutors say delayed charges for nearly a decade despite available evidence.
Wakavesi told Justice Usaia Ratuvili that while initial bidding documents came from the Fiji Procurement Office, the investigation was stalled for years after FICAC was instructed to pause inquiries. A 2022 search warrant led to additional evidence being collected, he said, but he conceded that some material was never fully gathered and several officers originally involved in the probe have since died, creating gaps in the evidence chain.
The new emphasis on email author attribution follows earlier courtroom disputes over digital forensics in the broader case. Prosecutors have sought to rely on electronic communications to establish who directed procurement decisions, while defence teams have previously challenged the recovery and completeness of messaging evidence. Wakavesi’s account that government IT systems identified Sharma as author and recipient of key emails supplies fresh forensic threads prosecutors will press as the trial continues.
Defence lawyer Wylie Clark is conducting cross-examination of Wakavesi. The court record shows the prosecution is relying heavily on the recovered emails to tie decision-making to named individuals, while defence teams have signalled they will scrutinise the provenance and handling of digital material. The trial remains ongoing and further testimony is expected as legal teams contest the import and admissibility of the electronic evidence.
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