Blog Archives

LEGAL UPDATE: DPP withdraws all criminal charges against Lautoka businessman Aaron Anwar Khan, the director of Diesel Refinery Ltd, relating to 5.4kg of 'white powder' found at the Nadi Airport Post Office

27/10/2015

DPP had charged Khan with one count of importation of a controlled chemical contrary to Section 6(a) of the Illicit Drug Control Act of 2004; Khan had always maintained his innocence claiming he had nothing to do with the parcel at the Nadi Airport Post Office:
"It has been a very difficult 14 months for me, my family and my business"

Lautoka businessman Aaron Anwar Khan, middle, is flanked by his staff members Jone Naulu, left, and Peter Parmesh Chand.

A LAUTOKA businessman alleged to have imported 5.4kilograms of pseudophedrine through the Nadi International Airport last year is a free man after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions issued a formal notice to withdraw all criminal charges against him.

And upon receiving the notice at the High Court in Lautoka yesterday, Aaron Anwar Khan said he looked forward to moving on with his business despite the setbacks caused by the trial.

"It has been a very difficult 14 months for me, my family and my business," he said.

"From the beginning I have maintained my innocence and I'm grateful that the State prosecutors and our court system have been able to clear my name of any wrongdoing.

"My business investments have also suffered a bit locally but I am truly grateful that my overseas investors were able to continue our partnerships despite this."

Mr Khan is the director of Diesel Refinery Fiji Ltd, a company which imports diesel from Europe and supplies fuel locally. Source: Fiji Times, 16 October 2015

SIGATOKA SCHOOL STUDENT BEATING: Fiji media turns blind eye to Fijileaks report including Police and Medical reports; instead tells Minister for Children Akbar concerned about the children roaming streets at night

27/10/2015

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Fijileaks: What do you expect from "Childrens Minister" who got 990 votes under Khaiyum's skewed D'Hondt Electoral System running Fiji

AIYAZ KHAIYUM HAS TURNED FIJI INTO HIS OWN "GOONDA RAAJ" with a stellar rogue of chamchas - inside and outside - mostly Indo-Fijians; the granting of dual citizenship is both a carrot and a stick - "if you dare to criticize us, we will strip you off the dual citizenship"

"Under Bainimarama's dictatorship assaults, child abuse, domestic violence, rape, have increased, with more of Bainimarama and Khaiyum's family and friends getting away with criminal acts that other ordinary Fijians get arrested for, beaten-up and sent to jail! This is another prime example of NO "Equal Citizenry" and No rule-of-law, and more lies under Frank Bainimarama!" Truth4Fiji website

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THE KEPA TOUR UPROAR: Opposition Office slams Bainimarama and Khaiyum's comments as misleading and inappropriate - Bainimarama spent more of taxpayers money on tours (including junkets) than Kepa

27/10/2015

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Statement
[94 Oct 27 2015]

The Opposition Leader’s North tour was her first official visit as Leader of the Opposition and was jointly funded by the Parliamentary secretariat and the Opposition office.

Principal Administrative Officer in the Opposition Leader’s office Mick Beddoes said today that comments from the Prime Minister and Attorney General questioning the Opposition Leader’s recent North tour were misleading and inappropriate.

Beddoes said the decision by the Prime Minister’s office to instruct civil servants not to receive or speak to the Leader of the Opposition did not deter Ro Teimumu from continuing with her tour. All it did was highlight the Prime Minister’s inappropriate unparliamentarily behavior and lack of common courtesy towards a fellow Member of Parliament and the Hon Leader of the Opposition.

The reported comment by the Attorney General that Parliament did not sanction the Opposition Leader’s trip to the North is also utter nonsense! Beddoes said that over the past year the Speaker, Secretary General, Members of Parliament, Government Ministers, the AG and Prime Minister made multiple local and overseas trips and none of these are specifically ‘sanctioned’ by Parliament.

In 2013 the PM spent $1.036 million of taxpayers’ money on travel and accommodation. His 2015 budget is $1.029 million. The average annual travel spend by a Prime Minister pre coup was $363,000 and no one says anything.

Yet the moment the Opposition Leader undertakes a very limited first official local tour to meet citizens in the North costing just $5,318 covering 7 days. The Prime Minister and Attorney General respond with almost hysterical childish behaviour! This bizarre attack is clearly disproportionate the undertaking of the Leader of the Opposition and a sure signal that they are perhaps scared of her uncovering the truth from her interactions with government officials and citizens. Which I am sure will happen Beddoes said.

This was hysterical behaviour by the Prime Minister and Attorney General was supported by a bizarre attack from their main propaganda media.

The PM, the AG and their propagandists need to come to terms with the real world.

Beddoes said for the record, the Opposition Leader does not require the Prime Minister, Attorney General or Parliament’s approval to undertake her responsibilities to the citizens and taxpayers of Fiji to keep the Government of the day accountable. It is her core function.

The cost of the Leader of the Oppositions expenses on the tour was paid for by the Parliament Secretariat which amounted to approximately $2,749 while the support staff’s cost of approximately $2,569 was paid for by the Opposition office.

Authorized By
Mick Beddoes

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/the-kepa-tour-report-opposition-declares-her-seven-day-tour-of-the-north-a-success-despite-pms-office-trying-to-stop-the-provincial-administrators-meeting-and-briefing-ro-kepa-on-development-projects

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STUDENT BRUTALLY KNEE-CAPPED BY HEAD TEACHER but Education Minister Reddy and Police force the family to reconcile and drop case against the school head; Naidovi Primary School head still in his JOB!

26/10/2015

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COMING SOON: How Reddy bribed Education Officers to get his wife her first posting at Vunidawa Secondary School so he could live with her in the teacher's quarters and travel to Suva daily for work!

[email protected]

"[The student] was assaulted by headteacher [Sashi Kumar] today in school. Received 2 punches to scalp, then was hit with stick on back, and on left leg" - Sigatoka Hospital Medical Report, 13 October 2015; Fijileaks understands Kumar was also under investigation for alleged corruption

The Head Teacher of Naidovi Primary School in Sigatoka (Mr Sashi Kumar) is the principal assailant in the medical report. Kumar beat the Class 3 student in the school resulting in the student getting serious injuries on his leg and head. A police report and a medical report was done and the Education Ministry, surprisingly, has not SUSPENDED the head teacher from the school.
To make it worse, they have settled the police case (which was lodged earlier) without considering the welfare of the Class 3 student, who not only has to face the Head Teacher KUMAR on a daily basis but is now paralyzed with FEAR during school hours and also whenever he runs into the student beater SASHI KUMAR.
The Police and Education Minister Reddy have been accused of protecting Kumar and forced the student's family to settle the police case

TWO FACED SCHOOL HEAD: Head teacher Sashi Kumar with the Ambassador of Japan to Fiji, Yutaka Yoshizawa, exchanging grant contracts in 2011

Fijileaks: Education Minister Reddy is still hiding from us - re comments

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/insider-appointment-reddy-to-ministry-of-education-transfer-ffp-election-loser-mohammed-dean-to-dr-saukhat-ali-sahib-campus-in-nadi

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THANK YOU, for NOT Moving My CASE forward & not finding magistrate to TRY me for causing death by dangerous driving in 2013 - BALA!

26/10/2015

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Mrs Puna Chand

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OH, REALLY? FICAC rules that Khaiyum overstated value of his Wailoaloa land by $60,000 when he declared it was worth $80,000; he only had an equitable contribution of $20,000 in Lot 13 owned by Midlife Investments!

25/10/2015

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"Commodore Bainimarama is spinning a tale of success in his "clean up" campaign. Many observers are skeptical. FICAC is a rogue organization without legal legitimacy. One FICAC court case has already been withdrawn, presumably to keep from having a near-term constitutional challenge." - The former US Ambassador Larry Dinger to Washington,
5 August 2007, Wikileaks cables

Fijileaks:

IT seems Aiyaz Khaiyum is re-defining what ownership means?
But if he's saying he only has 99 shares, this opens up all sorts of questions!

Shares:
How many are there? Who owns them? What % of them does he hold?
If Midlife Investments Limited is de-registered, how can Khaiyum still hold 99 shares?
How can MIL still own an asset?

Value Declaration:

So FICAC concludes that MIL owns the asset not Khaiyum?
If so, why did Khaiyum declare it as his asset?
Why did he not make this 'distinction' known in his Statutory Declaration?
If his share of the asset is $20,000, then he has overstated its value by $60,000

De-Registration:

If the company is de-registered, who does he still own shares in it in 2015?
Why is the file hidden in the ROC from the public?
If the asset is still alive and owned by MIL, then the file must be available for public scrutiny.

Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum is a compulsive liar

Fijileaks sources inside FICAC claim the statement below was drafted by Aiyaz Khaiyum and his legal cronies for George Langman to sign it:

Fijileaks to George Langman: Stop blaming Opposition from going to the media. You and Khaiyum held a press conference to reveal the so-called charges that were to be laid against the former deposed CJ Daniel Fatiaki; in 2009 VICTOR LAL wrote a two-part story based on documents provided to him from inside FICAC and A-G's Chambers on Khaiyum and Paul Madigan's (now a High Court Judge) roles in charging Fatiaki after the 2006 coup; the Fiji Sun has removed it from the paper's online website.

Reproduced from C4/5, 8 March 2010

Madigan's role in Fatiaki's removal
The Guilty Eight trial is not the first high-profile case Justice Paul Madigan has been involved in. As prosecutor and drafter of the FIRCA decrees, Madigan was instrumental in removing Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki from his post. As High Court judge, he last week found Ratu Inoke Takaveikata and seven others guilty of conspiring to murder the military dictator Frank Bainimarama. Victor Lal wrote the following article for the Fiji Sun and it appeared on July 1, 2009.

How Fatiaki’s tax case arose 1/7/2009

In December 2007, a high-level meeting took place in the conference room of the Attorney-General’s chambers in Suvavou House between the interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the Fiji Islands Revenue and Customs Authority’s then acting CEO, Jitoko Tikolevu, Paul Madigan and Elizabeth Yang, the two Hong Kong based Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) prosecutors and a top FIRCA tax investigator. At this meeting it was resolved to conduct an investigation into the suspended Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki (pictured left) with a view to prosecuting him for tax avoidance, even though Justice Fatiaki had paid his taxes during the amnesty period.

On 10 December, the tax investigator who had presented FIRCA’s case to that above meeting in or about the afternoon of 7 December, wrote to Justice Fatiaki as follows: “This letter is to notify you that the Fiji Islands Revenue and Customs Authority is conducting an investigation into an allegation that you have breached the Income Tax Act by omitting income from your tax returns for the years ended 31 December 1998 to 2005.”

He also attached for Justice Fatiaki’s information a copy of the relevant parts of section 44 and section 96 of the Income Tax Act. The tax investigator, who is no longer employed with FIRCA, gave Justice Fatiaki the opportunity of participating in a formal interview to answer the above allegations against the suspended CJ.

“The interview will be conducted under criminal caution. At this interview you may choose to have your legal representative or another person present. The interview will be at a mutually convenient place and time. This may be during or outside working hours, at FIRCA premises or another place. If you wish to be interviewed could you please contact the undersigned by phone within 14 days to arrange this? As an alternative to an interview you may choose to make a written, signed statement concerning the allegation,” the investigating tax officer told Justice Fatiaki.

Now, the former tax investigator claims that the interim government used the tax system to get people for political reasons. He also claims that the information he gave to Mr Madigan and Ms Yang was under perceived threat, paving the way for action to remove Justice Fatiaki under the 1997 Constitution of Fiji.

Looking back at my notes, the former tax investigator had written to me the following when I was preparing the $630,000 tax story: “During the course of my investigation into Fatiaki I made friends with two Hong Kong based investigators who were looking into Fatiaki for the sec 138 of the Constitution hearing about him being a fit and proper person to be a judge (to be heard in Feb 08) - Paul Madigan and Elizabeth Yang. It was they who persuaded me to complain to George Langman about [the consultant’s] blackmail attempt, because FICAC owed me a favour for helping them get Fatiaki.”

Two e-mails, one from Ms Yang dated 1 November 2007 (“This is Elizabeth from Hong Kong. We had a meeting about two months ago regarding a tax case”) and another from Mr Madigan dated 16 January 2008 (“It was go[o]d to talk to you this afterno[o]n. I have thought about your situation a lot over the last couple of months. I arrived back in Fiji yesterday to do more FICAC work and then to prosecute the Fatiaki case…I wish you loads of luck and happine[s]s and please ke[ep] in touch”) to the former tax investigator confirms his assertion that he assisted the two Hong Kong-based prosecutors.

Commenting on Ms Yang’s e-mail, the former tax investigator said he had a meeting with Mr Madigan, Ms Yang and Mr Tikolevu in September 2007 in which he (the former tax investigator) gave the FICAC lawyers a photocopy of Justice Fatiaki’s confession. “They were very pleased and this was the start of our cordial relations. Providing this information was illegal but it was done out of the state of fear previously described,” said the former tax investigator. Lest we forget, Justice Paul Madigan!

C4/5 Editor's Note: For readers wanting more on this story, click on the links below. They'll take you to the stories Victor Lal did for the Fiji Sun in 2009, which signpost Justice Paul Madigan's involvement in the interim government's purge efforts.

http://www.fijisun.com.fj/main_page/view.asp?id=12577

http://www.fijisun.com.fj/main_page/view.asp?id=12619

Fijileaks: Fiji Sun has removed it from its archives

Lot 13: "The Land Has Eyes", Langman and Khaiyum

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CORRUPT B*****D: Fijileaks will be revealing how Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum conspired with FICAC to prosecute Assistant Police Commissioner Crime Josaia Rasiga and Fantasy Island director Abbas Ali after the 2006 coup

24/10/2015

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"I spoke to Assistant Commissioner Nasir Ali this evening and he had agreed to put in place the process identified in paragraph 4 above - DPP/Police need to re-charge the two accused [Rasiga and Ali] almost immediately...High Court Judge Justice Byrne allowed the withdrawal of charges which means the two accused can be re-charged" -
Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum

HON. A. SAYED-KHAIYUM.- Madam Speaker, as I was saying, the Deputy Commissioner reports to His Excellency the President. No where does FICAC report to the Attorney-General as they are alluding to, and if I can also refer them to the Constitution..." 13 May 2015

"The A-G also informed the quorum that according to the Prime Minister [Bainimarama], Investigators [from FICAC] are like kids in a goodies shop, trying to lay their hands on every thing they see during searches. Additionally he [Khaiyum] stated that we should concentrate on bigger cases [like Fijian Holdings, Sports Council, Post Fiji and FDB] and not cases that involve $2,000, because it won't have a great impact."

"The Joe Rasiga case involved "judge shopping" and likely involvement of A-G that he had spent a night at the Fantasy as Abbas Ali's guest - Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti, 3 January 2008

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FICAC and Midlife Investments Limited Scam: Fijileaks challenges Aiyaz Khaiyum to explain the disappearance of MIL file from ROC; we still want to KNOW when was MIL formed, who are its directors and shareholders?

23/10/2015

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The letter to Aiyaz Khaiyum from FICAC Deputy Commissioner George Langman and copied to the Leader of Opposition, Ro Teimumu Kepa, reads:

"A thorough case assessment into the factual findings of the allegation and the above mentioned complaint, as shown by all relevant supporting documents, it became evident that the property in question was purchased by and is owned by Midlife Investments Limited and not by Mr Sayed-Khaiyum. It was obtained by Midlife Investments being a legal person via a mortgage valued at $80,000 and an equitable contribution of $20,000 by Hon Mr Sayed-Khaiyum.

"Therefore it is apparent that Hon Mr Sayed-Khaiyum has not understated the value of the asset in his declaration dated 24th February 2015 in which he had a conditional equitable interest value, which is in fact lesser than the amount declared. In fact the asset he owns as far as Midlife Investments is concerned are the 99 shares in it."

Fijileaks: If Lot 13 was purchased by and is owned by Midlife Investments Ltd and NOT by Khaiyum, then why did he bother to mention that he owned a property worth $500,000 at 59 Vunaceke Rd, Suva and LOT 13 at Wailoaloa, Nadi, (owned through MIL) worth $80,000? And, in the same declaration he claims his wife owns a car worth $50,000

Now, FICAC deputy George Langman, the former military carpenter, is ruling (on Khaiyum's behalf) that LOT 13 was obtained by MIL via a mortgage valued at $80,000 and an equitable contribution of $20,000 by Khaiyum

If so, why in the Transfer of Land document the above facts are not mentioned. Faiyaz Koya, now FFP Cabinet Minister, and three others who owned Lot 13, declared that they received $100,000 from MIL. Khaiyum, and his so-called equitable contribution of $20,000, is not mentioned at all

SHORTLY after the declarations of assets were made public, Fijileaks sent its Investigative Team to the ROC to ask for a copy of the MIL file. We were told that the FILE was not in the system, and now it is missing.

If this CON MERCHANT Khaiyum had nothing to hide, why he ordered ROC to remove the MIL file from the system?

We have been asking him for over a year to reveal who are behind Midlife Investments Ltd - typically, he has not responded, and now has come out with all guns blazing with a letter from Langman, saying he has been cleared of all the allegations made against him by Ro Teimumu Kepa, the Leader of the Opposition.

VICTOR LAL has first-hand experience of these two lying, obnoxiously deceitful individuals: between 2007 and 2008 Langman denied ever receiving the files on Mahendra Chaudhry re Haryangate (sent by Fiji Sun via registered post), and Khaiyum had hurriedly convened an Inquiry Team and had exonerated Chaudhry. We say to you: DON'T believe them!

"THE LAND HAS EYES" - Lot 13, which Aiyaz Khaiyum declared he owned through Midlife Investments Ltd, and worth $80,000

AND KHAYIUM'S SPIN MERCHANTS: As expected, Fiji Sun which DID NOT run a story on Kepa's original complaint to FICAC, has come out with Khaiyum's version:

http://fijisun.com.fj/2015/10/24/a-g-cleared-kepa-accused/

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"We are grateful for i-Taukei milk of human kindness": 131 years later the descendants of girmitiyas thank Nasilai villagers whose own forebears came to the rescue of the survivors of the Girmit ship "Syria" in 1884

23/10/2015

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Gratitude after over 13 decades to the descendants of the village which showed compassion and humanity to people in need. A bond was forged with the delegation from NZ, which promised to have the bond of friendship nurtured and facilitate developments and other assistance by other agencies, including NZ and Indian High Commissions. Secretary/Trustee of Fiji Girmit Foundation of NZ, Thakur Ranjit Singh, shaking hand of gratitude with Chief Daunakelo, in the shadows of the Girmit Banner.

Singh

By
Thakur Ranjit Singh

As the formal ceremony commenced in vakatunoloa (community meeting hall) at Nasilai Village on an overcast morning on 14 October, 2015 at Nakelo, (Rewa) Fiji, the high tide was lapping on the shores some meters away from the meeting house. And the muffled lapping was audible inside. The sea was calm, and the high tide was receding.

However this was not the case some 131 years ago, on a stormy night when the raging waves on the Nasilai Reef claimed 59 lives through sinking of the Girmit ship, Syria, which was carrying Indian indentured labourers to Fiji. Then, the forebears of this current Nasilai villagers came to the rescue of the survivors and gave them shelter and displayed human love, compassion, hospitality and understanding of the universal language of love, even without understanding each other’s language.

On the day of our visit, the ride to the village reminded us of a wedding procession, with convey of government and high commission vehicles, including our bus. You drive through roads snaking through green vegetation past Nausori Airport, Naselai, Visama, Nakelo and thence to Nasilai Village through narrow, dusty and winding road. At the end of the road, very near to the sea there is a sign. It says: “Welcome to Nasilai Village.” Over a century ago, there was no road and no sign, but the “welcoming” gesture, character and trait of the village seems to have always been alive and bequeathed to successive generations.

This year’s theme for Girmit Foundation Commemoration in Auckland was the sinking of ship Syria on the Nasilai reef on May 11, 1884. The Founding President of Fiji Girmit Foundation NZ, Pundit Devakar Prasad had a dream to thank the villagers, but unfortunately passed away. A delegation from NZ travelled to Fiji to fulfil that dream of a thanksgiving trip. Without the villagers’ valuable, timely help, the traditional ITaukei culture of compassion, the loss of lives would have been much higher. Unfortunately, Fijian history has not resonated with such acts of compassion and sacrifice where our two communities stood by and for each other, in good times and in bad ones. Indeed, there is enormous reservoir of love, affection and goodwill between the two races, which needs to be revealed and cherished. Had it not been for the divide and rule technique of the colonists, there would have been better race relations in Fiji, as was displayed through human language of compassion on that fateful and eventful night over a century ago.

Fiji’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola was the Chief Guest in that Girmit Commemoration on May 17, 2015 in Auckland.The President of the Foundation, Master Shiu Charan commended Naselai villagers for their timely assistance and hospitality. Unfortunately due to doctor’s advice, he could not travel to Fiji and was deputised by Sardar Harnam Singh Golian.

Now, to fulfil our undertaking of honouring the villagers, a delegation from Fiji Girmit Foundation ventured on this pilgrimage. It included Trustee/Head of Delegation, Sardar Harnam Singh Golian, with a team of 8 from New Zealand. It also included New Zealand’s National Member of Parliament, Kanwal Singh Bakshi. In Fiji, the delegation was joined by NZ High Commissioner, Mark Ramsden, official of Indian High Commission and other local community leaders and media.

Gifts of food items, sporting goods and stationery were presented and very warmly received by the villagers in their meeting house. We were honoured with the traditional welcoming yagona (kava) ceremony followed by presentation of Tabua, (whale’s teeth) gifts and a commemorative plaque. There was networking and Talanoa session in which the delegate promised to maintain ongoing relations with the village and facilitate development through New Zealand and Indian High Commissions and other agencies on an ongoing basis for the wellbeing of the village.

It was an emotional event where praises were made to the forebears of the villagers for their compassionate, humanitarian and courageous act of rescue and hospitality. It was especially emotional for the great-granddaughter of one of the survivors of Syria tragedy, Mrs Padma Charan, who, with her son Vinesh, has made that special trip from New Zealand as part of the delegation. Her great grandfather, Thakur Kuldip Singh was a survivor of that fateful ship that met a fateful landing.

In general discussion, the villagers cited the immediate need for repairs to their meeting house, addition of a toilet block and completion of a Syria monument that was reportedly undertaken earlier by Indian High Commission. The villagers were thankful to be remembered, and they commented that others had visited before, but forgotten them. They were assured by Sardar Golian that they will not be forgotten, ‘We will work with other agencies to make sure that assistance is given where required, and we will make further visits in future.” he told the Chief Daunakelo. The NZ High Commissioner, also assured them of assistance.

The delegation was treated to a very tasty, healthy and mouth-watering, lunch, which was enjoyed by the delegation and a large media contingent who covered the event. The food appeared to have been very lovingly prepared, and that added to its taste. The event was well-publicised in Fiji media which helped in bringing awareness about Girmit and the inter-ethnic compassion that existed so early in Fiji’s history.

On our way, we visited Nasamila District School. This was facilitated by Ministry of Education. Once again the usual hospitality was displayed by the school teachers and students. It caters for four nearby villages, including Nasilai. The visitors were thrilled by the show of respect, and performance of cultural programmes. We presented the school with some sporting goods and stationery, and promised to extend development through educational aid agencies in New Zealand. Our eyes welled up when the Nasamila Cultural Group of students sang the ever haunting and melodious farewell song-Isa Lei.

As we departed Nasilai, one thing was certain. The love, compassion and hospitality that was displayed to the Indian Girmitiyas some 131 years ago was evident and inherited by the descendants of those villagers with a big heart. And the ITaukei hospitality so well-known worldwide again won the day. It was certain that it was not our last trip-there was some bond that was pulling us to come back to Nasilai Village.

It appears the whispered legends about spirit of those drowned Indian labourers at Nasilai reef are urging us to comeback. And by God, we will come back. In addition to development of the village and the school, we may also bring some priest or pundit (may be FIJI PUNDIT should be enough) to appease those wondering souls still seeking salvation.

Thakur Ranjit Singh is a founding Trustee and Secretary of Fiji Girmit Foundation New Zealand which came on the thanksgiving trip to Nasilai Village. He was a member of the delegation and communications link between Fiji Government and the Foundation. He is a community worker, a media commentator and scholar, and runs his blog site, FIJI PUNDIT at www.fijipundit.blogspot.co.nz]

Presentation of Plaque to Chief Daunakelo (extreme left) by the Head of Delegation and Trustee of Fiji Girmit Foundation-New Zealand, Sardar Harnam Singh Golian (with glasses in front) Others in the picture are members of delegation from New Zealand (from left) Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Viren Lal, Vijay Prasad (back, partly obscured) and Trustee and Treasurer, Krish Naidu

Extracted from Brij Lal, Chalo Jahaji re "The Wreck of Syria 1884":

“It is a milestone in subaltern studies, a biographical journey penned by a living relic of the indentured experience and a scholar whose thoroughly interdisciplinary approach is a good example for the anthropologist, the sociologist or the economist who wish to see the proper integration of their disciplines in a major historical work.” Brinsley Samaroo, University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad “Professor Lal has made a most distinguished contribution to scholarship on Indian indentured labour in Fiji. His research is characterised by the use of new methodological approaches to the study of history, and by a comprehensive consideration of both quantitative and literary sources. In beautifully written articles, he has arrived at fresh and novel findings.” Ralph Shlomowitz, Flinders University of South Australia “Professor Lal has produced a body of work which makes him the premier scholar of the Indian diaspora. His meticulous research, the depth of scholarship, the empathy, and the elegance have earned him great respect among Indian diaspora scholars. The themes covered in this book are relevant to other overseas Indian communities; and they are handled with such mastery that his reputation is secured.” Clem Seecharan, University of North London “Brij Lal’s Chalo Jahaji is an intensely personal journey through his life and that of the 60,000 Indians who became girmitiyas in Fiji. The intricate history is measured, but Lal reveals himself and his family in a way historians seldom do. This proud grandson of a girmitiya is equally a proud son of Fiji...” Clive Moore, University of Queensland

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FICAC CLEARS KHAIYUM OVER MIDLIFE INVESTMENTS LTD SAGA: Fijileaks: BUT why have you been hiding the FILE from INSPECTION? FICAC MUST RELEASE ITS FULL FINDINGS FOR DETAILED RESPONSE

23/10/2015

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Fijileaks to Khaiyum: Face Up and Answer Questions! The Registrar of Companies kept telling us that Midlife Investments Ltd was not in their system; if so, why, and it is still NOT in the system?
Hiding something, you CON MERCHANT?

You were quick to send your goons to the ROC and have come back now to tell the public of Fiji about Mick Beddoes: "He has declared that he has shares in Power Savers. For Power Savers it says holder/ recipient Millis M Beddoes Director/ Shareholder valued declared $8000. Now, he has shown in the last company return that was filed on 31st December 2012. He shows that he has shares of $3,500 presumably another $3,500 was transferred to him again to $7000 at one dollar each. So he is giving $8000 perhaps its $7000 here but he has valued the company or the shares at $7000."
Fijileaks to Khaiyum: Who are Directors/Shareholders of Midlife Investments Ltd? "For Power Savers it says holder/ recipient Millis M Beddoes Director/ Shareholder"; its two years and ROC keeps telling us that they don't have your MIL in their system - tell us,
WHERE IS THE MIL FILE?

"Fiji One news tonight AG Khayium finally breaks his silence concerning the allegations against him by the Leader of the Opposition for false declarations. Khayium says the land in question is owned by Mid Life Investments, a company in which he has shares. Yes we know Aiyaz that Midlife Investments is owned by you and your mother. The question is Mid Life Investments was deregistered in 2010 after which you signed off on a gazette notice whereby deregistered companies could not be searched. Now how do you declare shares in a company in 2014 & 2015 when the company was deregistered in 2010? You are drowning in your own bullshit again Aiyaz!" -
Ben Padarath, on Rajendra Chaudhry's Facebook

Fiji media did not publish nor air Opposition's claims, but now running away with FICAC's finding through the mouth of Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum

Khaiyum's explanation not sufficient to evade charge for false declaration

Read below:

The PPRD is very clear from section 24(5) of the PPRD, which reads:

Applicants, office holders of political parties and independent candidates to Parliament to declare assets and liabilities

24.--

(5) Any person who fails to comply with the requirements of subsections (1) or (2), or provides any information that is false, commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or to both.

More important is section 27(1), which reads:

PART 4—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Offences

27.—(1) A person who--
(a) fails to furnish particulars or information required to be furnished by a political party or by him or her under this Decree;
(b) makes a statement which he or she knows to be false or which he or she has no reason to believe to be true; or
(c) recklessly makes a false statement under this Decree, commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.

Section 27(4) is instructive and clearly makes the offence one of strict liability and where the Court must be satisfied that the offence was not committed. It reads:

(4) A person does not commit an offence under subsection (1) or (2) if that person proves to the satisfaction of the court that he or she exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of that act as he or she ought to have exercised, having regard to all the circumstances.

This means that there is no requirement for any explanation to FICAC or DPP. K**** must be charged and must prove his innocence in Court given that the onus is on him (AND NOT FICAC OR DPP) to prove that he exercised due diligence.

So the issue is very clear and that is that Khaiyum:

1. Made a false statement;
2. Made such statement recklessly; and
3. Committed an offence under PPRD.

He must be charged and presented in Court to make his defence (flimsy as it may be) and not on national media. There is no other way. Time to walk the talk.

Extract from Victor Lal and Russell Hunter's Legal Submission to DDP's Office, 12 September 2012; re Mahendra Chaudhry

Reserve Bank of Fiji had failed to act upon Victor Lal’s 2007 submission

We have already stated that in an e-mail dated 10 August 2007 Mr Hunter had advised Victor Lal to provide Mr Chaudhry’s tax documents to the RBF Intelligence Unit. Victor Lal duly obliged and submitted his own legal opinion to the RBF that Mr Chaudhry might have breached various provisions of the Exchange Control Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act. Like FICAC, the Prime Minister’s Office, and Mr Chaudhry himself, the RBF neither replied nor acknowledged Victor Lal’s letter or the tax documents.

Victor Lal on Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Taxation Affairs of Mahendra Pal Chaudhry

It is quite clear why Mr Chaudhry declined to accept Option Two – for “His Excellency the President to establish a Commission under the Commission of Inquiry Act ('Inquiry')”.

Responding to the findings of the above Report, the Fiji Sun had editorialized:

“This inquiry did not even touch on the reasons why Mr Chaudhry did not file tax returns for three successive years or why he did not disclose the interest earned on or even the existence of his overseas accounts for the very simple reason that it wasn’t asked to.
It did not examine the extensive dossier sent by Fiji Sun correspondent Victor Lal to the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption, the commissioner of police and the prime minister – again, because it was not asked to. This, of course, is no fault of the three tribunal members who merely did what they were employed to do...”

In his own analysis of the Report Victor Lal wrote: “The three-member team enquiry was tasked to see if tax assessments had been raised in accordance with the tax laws. As FIRCA’s duty includes the administration of the tax laws, this was in effect an enquiry into FIRCA not Mr Chaudhry.

He should be stood down and a Commission of Enquiry should be set up, whose terms of reference should read:

“To determine if Mahendra Pal Chaudhry had complied with the tax laws by declaring all his income.”

It should also examine the Haryana letter, Victor Lal argued, in his reply:

“There is evidence in Mr Chaudhry’s tax file that FIRCA refused to accept Mr Harbhajan Lal’s letter, writing to a partner of the Suva accounting firm on October 22, 2004, re “Honourable Mahendra Chaudhry: “I refer to our meeting on the 5 October 2004, and thank you for the submission of information you had “on hand”. We have examined the same and wish to state here that we will be amending the income tax returns for the respective years, however, will not be allowing the tax credits due to lack of Documentary Evidence.”

The tax agent was informed in no uncertain terms that despite amending the returns, FIRCA would still be pursuing the “source of the funds” issue. The submitted document, FIRCA stated, explaining the source of the funds was not sufficient enough for FIRCA’s purposes.

(P. S. We did not re-produce the above “5 October Note” in the 17 February 2008 article – and it remains unpublished to date by us)

In his analysis of the Report, Victor Lal contended as follows in the Fiji Sun:

“He [Mr Chaudhry] never told us that he had made late lodgements of his 2001, 2002, and 2003 tax returns, which was the subject of my first tax story on him in August 2007. Even the inquiry team has now confirmed my earlier assertions that Mr Chaudhry lodged his tax returns for the 2000 and 2001 financial years together on 30 May 2002, which was outside the 31 March due date for the lodgement of those returns. He lodged his returns for the 2002 year on 12 December 2003, which was also outside the time allowed.

Mr Chaudhry did not declare interest on the Australian and New Zealand financial institution accounts in his return lodged with FIRCA in respect of any of the 2000 to 2003 (inclusive) years.

We are yet to hear from Mr Chaudhry why he made late lodgements, and why he did not disclose interest earned on his investments for the years 2001, 2002, and 2003.

It would not be out of context to suggest to Mr Chaudhry that one of the primary reasons was because if he had, then he might have been forced to reveal that he had secretly received three instalments of funds running into thousands of dollars in 2000, 2001, and 2002?”

The Report of the Independent Inquiry into the Taxation Affairs of Mahendra Pal Chaudhry and Justice Goundar in Chaudhry v State [2012] FJHC 1229; HAM034.2011 (25 July 2012) reached the same conclusion as alleged by Victor Lal in his 15 August 2007 story in the Fiji Sun – that Mr Chaudhry had not declared his incomes in the 2001, 2002 and 2003 tax returns to FIRCA.

Mr Chaudhry escapes making false claim in income tax returns on legal technicality – prosecution time barred after 2007

The Fiji High Court deliberated, among other charges, four counts of making a false statement in an Income Tax Return: The four counts were dropped because the three-year time limit for prosecution had expired. After 2007, the offence of making a false tax return under the Income Tax Act was time barred.

It does not mean, however, that Victor Lal’s story was false – the facts in the four counts reinforce his claims that Mr Chaudhry raked in thousands from his investments which he had not declared to FIRCA.

Again, without naming Mr Chaudhry, Victor Lal had disclosed in the Fiji Sun (and not in anti-government blogsites) the incomes that Mr Chaudhry had earned from his investments abroad: “Minister raked in $215,000 from investments.” (see Appendix Six)

Victor Lal had based his story from the file, although the actual document above was never published by us

It is our contention that if FICAC had acted on Victor Lal’s initial complaint in 2007 and had invited him to re-submit copies of Mr Chaudhry’s tax documents maybe the outcome of the judgment on the making false claim charges would have been completely different from the one delivered by Justice Goundar.

The issue of time-barred prosecution would not have arisen, which itself raises another question of import – when and who introduced the statute of limitation in the Income Tax Act in 2007?

In his ruling Justice Goundar noted at [53] that Mr Chaudhry paid his outstanding taxes in 2004. We do not question Justice Goundar’s observation. The records in Mr Chaudhry’s file reveal a receipt (see below) dated 10 November 2004 stating the sum of $86,069.52.

Victor Lal’s contention in his 17 February 2008 story was that the amount was only paid when FIRCA confronted him [Mr Chaudhry] about the undisclosed funds in Australia.

Regarding the payment, Victor Lal wrote: “On November 22, 2004, one of the partners in the accountancy firm replied to the letter, confirming the payment of $86,069.02, noting that, “The tax paid by our client includes 2004 provisional tax amounting to F$34,962”. He also pointed out: “We note that credit for non-resident withholding tax deducted at source amounting to $22,858.03 has not been considered by Inland Revenue.”

We have taken great pains to explain our case to demonstrate that claims by Mr Chaudhry against us in his affidavit are manifestly false. We were awarded the Robert Keith-Reid Award for Outstanding Journalism in recognition of the tax story in the Fiji Sun and not in any anti-government websites. VICTOR LAL and RUSSELL HUNTER, 12 September 2012

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