Court gives prosecution time in Fr Jan’s case

THE case of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology Department secretary Fr Jan Czuba, who is facing eight charges of abuse of office, was adjourned to May 24 for the prosecution to rebut submissions.
Waigani Committal Court Magistrate Tracy Ganaii on Friday also extended Czuba’s K3,000 bail with same conditions.
Though he was not present in court, prosecutor Snr Const Peter Samghy said he would liaise with the court clerk to inform him and his lawyer of his adjourned date.
Czuba, 61, of Poland, is facing charges relating to him to the awarding of contracts outside of the normal public tender and procurement processes, authorising payments to several companies that he is alleged to be a director and shareholder, using the department’s funds for various services rendered to the department.
The allegations relate to a fraud investigation where K4.2 million belonging to the department were used in 2017, 2018 and 2019 when he was acting secretary. A charge of official corruption was struck out.