Shailesh Kumar donated $70,000 on 20 September 2014 but FFP used the American system to confuse us
"Mr Speaker, Sir, The response that we got from MESAKE DAWAI, Registrar of Political Parties (Dawai is Review & Compliance Officer): The Fijian Elections Office is currently dealing with compliance methods in getting NFP to submit its list of donations. This party (NFP), Sir, has not supplied its list of donors since 2014/2015)". That is Election Minister Aiyaz Khaiyum speaking, while holding up Dawai's letter in Parliament. This week we wrote to Dawai asking him if a so-called Foundation Member of a political party is permitted to donate over $50,000, and his reply to us: "We kindly request that you seek independent legal advise on this issue." If so, why he ran and answered Khaiyum but is telling Fijileaks to go and get independent advice on Khaiyum's Donation Decree Cap? We wrote back to Dawai, pointing out that we were exercising our right under provisions of section 25 of the Access to Information Act. Of course, no response from Dawai. This $70,000 donation was in 2014, which means FFP should have been de-registered and its general secretary Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum hauled before the Fijian courts for breaching his own Donation Decree
Fijileaks: We have redeacted his Voting ID number from the Voter Roll
Subsection (2) of the Donation Decree 'shall not apply to any political donation made by an founding member of the political party as political donation to the initial assets of the party within the first year of its existence'. We, however, argue that Shailesh Kumar is not a Founding Member of the FFP. Where did he get the $70,000 in 2014? Did he donate by Cheque or Cash in a Brown Paper Bag? Who at FijiFIRST PARTY Head Office received such a large amount of donation, in clear breach of the donation decree? Did he have $70,000 in his bank account on the day he made his BIG DONATION, on 20 September 2014? We will only know when he is taken into custody? Even if he had the funds to cover his donation (presuming he gave a cheque), he still broke the law.
He was allegedly seen by countless Fijians going around on behalf of FFP soliciting for donations, especially from BIG Gujarati businessmen and their families. As we have disclosed previously, in 2016, he single-handedly collected a staggering $515,000 on behalf of FijiFIRST PARTY, mostly from the Tappoos, Punjas, and Patels. Was he authorized to act as financial party agent? We will never know how much he collected and how much he declared to FFP. Was the $70,000 'Black Money' from donors who did not want to be identified (or by donors who also gave extra cash) but handed by him to FFP as his own contribution to the party, and in breach of Khaiyum's Donation Decree? He and FFP clearly broke the LAW in 2014 on $10,000 legal limit, throwing the entire electoral process and the donation decree into question. The Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem must be taken into custody to establish if he was complicit in the donation scam. We also call for a general Commission of Inquiry into the Donation Scandal involving all the political parties, with FFP leading the PACK. ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE, was a hollow SLOGAN when Big Money was King in Fiji Polls! Shailesh Kumar, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, and Mohammed Saneem must be subjected to the full force of the law
Was he really FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE FIJIFIRST PARTY in 2014?
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In May 2014, Bainimarama had notified the Fijian Elections Office that he was to be Leader of the FFP, the Minister for Women, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation, the late Dr Jiko Luveni, was listed as the President. The two listed Vice-Presidents were Bijai Prasad, a former senator and the former Nadi branch President of the Fiji Labour Party, and Tui Macuata, Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere. Vimlesh Kumar, an accountant and an affiliate member of CPA Australia, was listed as the Treasurer and , Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum was listed as the party's General Secretary.
IF we read the FijiFIRST PARTY CONSTITUTION, Shailesh Kumar was NEVER, and still is NOT, a FOUNDING MEMBER. Either FFP embellished his position in the party or it was deliberately inserted to deceive the Fijian Elections Office. Whatever Ponga title is after his Donor name, he broke the law, and so did Khaiyum and Saneem by hiding his illegal $70,000 donation from us for the last SIX YEARS. One cannot become a Foundation Member after the Party is formed. You become a Foundation Member when it is formed.
In 2016, Shailesh Kumar collected $515,000 in donations for FijiFirst Party. But just look at the erratic way he has issued receipts, raising serious questions. On 14 September 2016, he issued receipt number 933 to Vinod Tappoo for $10,000. On the same day he issued receipt number 954 to Kamlesh Tappoo. Three mothers later, on 13 December 2016, his receipt numbers are suddenly issued in descending order: 944-949. As we asked previously, where did he get hold of the Tappoos - in their boardrooms, in their houses, or in a hired bus, and whether the womenfolk really gave him the donations in person, in cash or in cheque? There is widespread acceptance among the Indo-Fijian community that most women do not have personal bank accounts running into thousands of dollars. How can Saneem claim FFP donation list is in order? We call on FICAC to take over the investigation. And, for these women donors and their children to prove that they actually gave Shailesh Kumar their own thousands of dollars as donation to FijiFIRST PARTY between 2014 and 2019
