A final adjournment has been given by the Waigani Committal Court for the criminal case against Secretary for Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Dr Vele Pat Ila’va.
Dr Ila’ava is facing nine counts of official corruption and 11 counts of abuse of office. He is currently on K2,000 bail.
He first appeared in the Committal Court on February 27.
The Committal Court has adjourned his case to May 28. The case would have been in court for three months by then.
The final adjournment was given for police to compile and produce their hand-up brief.
This document will be used by the court to weigh out the evidence against Dr Ila’ava.
The allegations date back to 2012 after Dr. Ila’ava signed a 2-year security contract with the Extreme Security Services Limited, a security firm, soon after he was appointed acting Secretary for DAL the same year.
He allegedly did so after terminating the security services rendered by Corporate Assets Protection Security Limited and engaged Extreme Security Services Limited, which police allege is owned by a relative.
It is alleged a total of K1.9 million was paid to Extreme Security Services Ltd, which was approved by Dr Ila’ava.