A former project technical officer with Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services who was convicted of one count each of forgery and using forged document was sentenced to 17 months by the Suva Magistrates Court today.
Mohammed Ifraz who was charged by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) in February early this year pleaded guilty to the offences and was convicted in September.
A statement by FICAC said Ifraz admitted to using the paint application on his laptop to make false certificates from the Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT) and Fiji National University (FNU), and attempted to use it to gain employment with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.
In passing sentence, Magistrate Asanga Bodaragama said the offences committed were a serious breach of trust by an employee against his employer.
“You were a civil servant and no person would be recruited to the civil service if he had no good character,” Mr Bodaragama said.
He also highlighted that the ministry, as a government institute, is extremely important to Fiji as a nation, especially during a period of pandemic and that people who work in these state institutions are expected to be honest and hard working.
He said the court was entrusted with the duty of upholding the public confidence in the system of administration of justice, and that serious offences were committed which should not be treated leniently and needed to be a clear message to any would-be offenders.
Ifraz will spend five months in jail with the remaining 12 months suspended for five years.
