The Auditor who carried out the audit for the Nasinu Town Council, Adrian Prasad says during the audit of the council's records in 2008, he saw internal auditing conflicts as there were no signatures from the certifying officer or of the person who had picked up the cheque.

Prasad is the fifth witness for FICAC in the trial regarding former Nasinu Mayor, Rajeshwar Kumar and former clerk, Jaswant Kumar who are facing charges of abuse of office and embezzlement.

Prasad also revealed in court that in their Audit report they mentioned that the Council issued cheque number 1045 worth $2,344 in 2006 to Post Fiji however someone had uplifted the cheque and cashed it at the Westpac Nabua branch on the same day.

He added that the matter was taken up to the then Chief Executive of the Nasinu Town Council, Chandra Shekhar.

During questioning by FICAC Lawyer, Laisa Lagilevu, Prasad said that according to the Manual from the Auditor General’s Office, any cheques that are issued by municipal councils should be non-negotiable and have the signatures of both the certifying officer and the signature of the person that picked the cheque to avoid theft or misappropriation.

The Court also heard that the Manual and the powers given to the auditors, come from the Local Government Act and also from the Auditors Generals Office.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for former Nasinu Mayor, Rajeshwar Kumar and former clerk, Jaswant Kumar raised questions as to why the 2004 Audit report for the Nasinu Town Council contained 2006 accounts.

Rajendra Chaudhry posed this question to FICAC witness, Adrian Prasad.

Chaudhry asked Prasad to justify the reason for auditing the records for 2006, which involves the alleged offence, when the final report shown was for the year ending 31st of December, 2004.

Prasad revealed he was following orders from his superior, the late Dhiren Prasad and also said that under the Auditors Act and the Local Government Act his office had the power to audit current accounts.

Prasad also informed the High Court that they had the powers to audit the Nasinu Town Council accounts as under their Manual and the Auditor Act, any Government body, business or Municipalities even persons in authority that was paid by Government or who dealt with public funds, had to be audited by them.

It is alleged that Rajeshwar Kumar and Jaswant Kumar had colluded to raise a cheque amounting to $2,344 for payment to Post Fiji Limited however the cheque was cashed at the Westpac Bank without the knowledge of Post Fiji Limited.

The case continues at 9.30 this morning.