How do you deter Multinational corporations with huge money to throw around from offering bribes as part of their business transactions?
This is the question which now hangs over the head of High court Judge Justice Salesi Temo as he contemplates the appropriate sentence to hand down to Chinese businessmen Chen Xue Liang and De Chuan Zhao who pleaded guilty to one count of bribing a public official after they tried to bribe the Permanent Secretary for Finance John Prasad by offering him $6000 and a box of Chinese tea in return for a contract for a water project in Savusavu.
While making a submission on the sentence today, FICAC lawyer Vincent Parera cited rulings in various similar cases highlighting that once started, corruption spreads like a cancer through society and is something that strikes at the heart of the justice system.
Parera said bribery is a form of corruption that undermines good business practices and is demoralizing to the business community when Companies with millions of dollars to throw around use this power for their financial gain making it hard for ethical and honest businessmen to operate in Fiji.
He said the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the crime and that the target of the bribe was a senior Government official and that the two men also had intentions to meet with the Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama.
Parera said this is the first conviction under the Bribery Promulgation and the starting point for the sentence should be five years imprisonment and suggested to the Judge to consider a custodial sentence between two and half to four year’s imprisonment.
He said also taking into account the high financial capacity of the two, heavy fines should also be imposed considering that under the Bribery promulgation the offence carries a maximum fine of $500,000.
The FICAC lawyer stressed the two are CEO and Accountant for a major company and the precedence must be set that such acts will not be condoned in Fiji.
He said the court should not give weight to their guilty plea as they only changed their plea after day one of the trial when all key witnesses had given evidence in court.
Defence Counsel Gavin O'Driscoll told Justice Temo that his clients were willing to take a guilty plea before Parera was assigned the case by FICAC but their offer was rejected.
O'Driscoll told the court that his clients have instructed him that the $6000 should be donated to three charitable organizations, the Fiji Red Cross, the Dilkusha Home and the Fiji Society for the Blind.
He cited a ruling handed down by Judge Justice Gerrad Winters who allowed such a donation under the clause " charitable application of a bribe" and that this be considered as a mitigating factor while considering the sentence.
O'Driscoll said substantial fines against each of his clients would be a sufficient deterrent to others in the business community and that a non custodial sentence be considered as the sentence should reflect the amount of money involved.
He suggested that a fine of $25,000 each would be sufficient and if a prison term is considered it should be between 6 to 12 months along with the fine.
However, Justice Temo told him to ask his clients how much they can afford to pay as a fine stressing that these men work for a multinational company and even the stipulated fine of $500,000 would be peanuts for them.
O'Driscoll after consulting his client stated that they were willing to pay between $40,000 to $50,000 each in fines.
Judge Temo than stressed that the two men represent a company which has a good track record in Fiji having contributed to construction of major projects such as the Vodafone Arena and there is no question of what they are capable of doing and contributing to development projects in Fiji.
But he said there are no authorities on how the courts can stop multinational corporations with big money behind them from engaging in offering bribes and gifts.
Justice Temo also stressed that in Fiji, a suspended sentence is often considered a joke as many times the offender ends up back in court on other crimes not taking seriously the suspended sentence which hangs over his head.
The Judge told the two lawyers that he will need time to decide on an appropriate sentence, which would reflect the severity of the crime and also be a deterrent to others.
The case is adjourned to June 11th for sentencing.
