Former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry may soon face a defamation lawsuit from Finance Minister Biman Prasad following allegations made by Chaudhry. Chaudhry has demanded that the Government disclose detailed accounts of the 2023 Girmit celebration expenditures.
Chaudhry claims that the Finance Minister, who is under investigation by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC), has failed to provide detailed accounts of the $500,000 allocated for the celebrations. He alleges that nearly half of this amount was given to an institute led by Prasad’s wife and a political ally.
These comments were made after Chaudhry criticized a ‘lavish’ dinner at the Grand Pacific Hotel hosted by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka for Government Ministers, assistant Ministers, and their spouses.
Chaudhry also highlighted what he referred to as operational flaws within the Government that deserved public attention, including an alleged drug and sex scandal involving two ministers who remain in Cabinet.
In response, Prasad said, “Mahendra Chaudhry is the biggest crook that I know. He was hiding $2 million in Australia and is a convicted criminal. He is the last person to talk. Why is he jumping around? He is a compulsive liar, lying about the Girmit funding approved by the Cabinet, which has two components: the celebration and the conference. This man, a convicted criminal, is lying about what happened. We’ll see him in Court very soon for defamation and for lying about the whole issue.”