George Shiu Raj is an Indo-Fijian former politician, who served as Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs from 2001 to 30 September 2004, when he resigned amid accusations of misuse of funds.
On 8 September 2005, he was acquitted of charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and of obtaining money under false pretenses, and Prime Minister Qarase announced his decision to reappoint Raj to the Cabinet.
"I have great respect for the Speaker of the House, the Parliament, Prime Minister and the nation," he said, "and don't want such allegations to tarnish their image.
On 23 August 2005, Raj appeared in court along with Sashi Sanjeev Pal, the managing director of Hunts Travel, on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and of obtaining money (F$10,000) by false pretenses.
Department of Public Prosecutions lawyer Daniel Gounder told the three trial assessors that Raj and Pal had defrauded the government not once, but twice.
Between 30 December 2001 and January 2002, the Prime Minister's Office authorized Raj to travel to India on business class tickets, Gounder said.
The fact that he had voluntarily resigned from the Cabinet and paid back the money he allegedly owed showed him to be a man of honesty and integrity, Winter said.
Prime Minister Qarase told the Fiji Village news service that he would begin the process of readmitting Raj to the Cabinet in mid-September.
He endorsed the judgement of Auditor-General Eroni Vatuloka that state entitlements were for the purpose of fulfilling civil service duties, and were not transferable to others.
Also on 12 September, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions announced that the ruling would be appealed, as Opposition Leader Chaudhry had urged.
On 10 August 2005, Parliamentarian Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi of the opposition Fiji Labour Party accused Raj of cheating farmers in Ra Province of their sugarcane earnings by offering them loans.