Thirty one-year-old Seeta Sanjana Ram of Nasole in Nasinu has been remanded in custody for the next two weeks charged with 35 counts of various offences, 16 of which involve allegations of human trafficking.

Ram appeared in the Suva Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon for first call of the case and was read out her various charges which includes obtaining property by deception, money laundering and trafficking of 17 Fijian nationals.

Ram is charged along with her sister Geeta Anjana Chandar who resides in Australia.

Presiding Magistrate Waleen George granted an application by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for an arrest warrant for Chandar who was charged in absentia with similar offenses.

The two sisters had been operating a travel agency from Nina Street, Suva and are alleged to have placed an advertisement in one of the dailies about employment opportunities in New Zealand.

The two are then alleged to have facilitated the travel of seventeen Fijian citizens who were exploited through slavery and became victims of Human Trafficking in Auckland New Zealand between April to August of 2014.

The case against the two sisters has been transferred to the Suva High Court, and is now scheduled for the third of September.