In its February 2016 judgment in Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption v. Rudra Maharaj, the High Court of Fiji accepted the unanimous finding of a jury and convicted the accused of bribery. According to the evidence brought by the prosecutors, the defendant was an official in the Prime Minister’s Office who had pressured bidders participating in a government tendering process to pay him bribes in the amount of $22,000 in order to influence the award of contracts for the construction of bio fuel sheds. While the defendant denied the charges, the prosecutors introduced an audio recording in which the accused had demanded payments from the bidders in post-bid meetings.
