TWO police officers accused of bribing a leading investigator in a stolen ashes case with $30,000, will appear in their pre-trial conference in Magistrate on March 11.
Allen Noni and Gravis Afuga had previously pleaded not guilty to one count of bribery.
Noni has also pleaded not guilty to a separate bribery charge.
The pre-trial conference was initially set for yesterday, but was adjourned as PTC documents are not yet finalized.
Principal Magistrate Emily Zazariko Vagibule Pakoa extended bail for both accused.
The allegation relates to an investigation last year into a stolen gold ashes case, worth $2.6 million.
The officers were part of the investigation team but have allegedly bribed the lead investigator with $30,000.
This for the lead investigator to cease the investigation into Max Gura’s involvement in the offence of simple larceny.
The bribe was intended to divert the investigation to focus only on the prime suspect, who is still at large.
Police arrested the two officers and charged them for them for the alleged bribe committed on two occasions last November.
Gura and his wife Miriam Sasau, the defendants in the gold ashes case, had already pleaded not guilty to the charge of simple larceny and possession of police property in the Honiara Magistrate’s Court.
They are now awaiting a pre-trial conference.
Gura’s lawyer made a bail application, which the court will deliver on Thursday this week.
The prime suspect, who stole the gold inside his boss’s vehicle, is still at large.
It is alleged that Max Gura assisted the prime suspect in escaping to a village in Guadalcanal in his vehicle before fleeing to Malaita in November 2024.
Before escaping, the prime suspect allegedly handed the remaining gold ashes to Gura, who sold them and used the proceeds to buy vehicles and a piece of land.
On December 5, 2024, police executed a search warrant at the couple’s residence and found a small bottle containing gold ashes and $6,317.60 in cash, and police uniforms.
The defendants were arrested on December 4, 2024, while trying to board M.V. Ocean Joy.
Donation Houa is representing both accused, whilst Public Prosecutor Jeremy Oiofa is appearing for the Crown.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
Solomon Star, Honiara
