William Marau, the former Ulawa-Ugi Constituency MP facing a corruption-related charge, fronted the Honiara Magistrate Court for the first time yesterday, looking pale and worried.
Police alleged Marau, a two-term MP who’ll be seeking a third term in the upcoming national elections, converted $5 million the national government paid to his constituency in 2016 to purchase a ship.
He appeared before Magistrate Emily Zazariko Vagibule Pakoa.
In court, Public Prosecutor Olivia Ratu Manu requested an adjournment of three weeks to allow time for preparation of disclosures before the case can proceed.
She said there are a lot of documents and they need ample time to prepare them before serving them to the defence lawyer.
Marau, who was charged with one count of conversion, has engaged private lawyer Wilson Rano, who asked Magistrate Pakoa for bail variation.
Rano requested that Marau be allowed to travel to the constituency as he intends to run as a candidate in the upcoming April 2024 elections. Magistrate Pakoa told Rano to provide her with existing bail conditions.
The bail variation requests will be revisited when the case returns to court on 22 February 2024.
Police say Marau’s case was reported on 27 April 2017 by constituents, prompting an investigation.
“During the course of investigation, it was found on 22 January 2016, the Solomon Islands government paid to Ulawa-Ugi Constituency Account with Bank South Pacific (BSP) an amount of $5 million for the shipping fund.
“Later on 17 February 2016, Marau advised the BSP Bank to transfer the $5 million into his personal account with the ANZ bank.
“Investigation further revealed that 65 withdrawals were made from Marau’s personal account totalling $6,023,326.70 and further 10 withdrawals totalling $4,550,000 were deposits made into the business account of Aslan Stationeries with the ANZ, a private company owned by the suspect.
“At the end of 2016, the balance remaining in Marau’s personal account was $27,868.87.”
Responding to his arrest, Marau told In-depth Solomons that he remains innocent until proven guilty by a court.
“This is a normal police procedure,” Marau said.
He pointed out that it was from the shipping grant he received that he used to purchase LC Lokoiola, which is currently serving Ulawa-Ugi constituency and other parts of Makira-Ulawa Province.
Marau first entered parliament on 19th November 2014 after working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for a few years.
He was appointed Minister of Commerce, Industries Labour and Immigration from 15th December 2014 to 28th October 2015. He was then given the Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs portfolio from 28th October 2015 to 4th August 2017.
In the 2019 national elections, he was re-elected for his second term.
