"At that time Mr Qarase was desperately trying to discredit Mr Chaudhry who was Leader of the Opposition with the 2006 general elections just around the corner." - Mahendra Chaudhry
"This is NFU’s reply to your post today trying to link FSC’s current $900m debt to the Exim Bank of India to NFU general secretary Mahendra Chaudhry.
For the record, Mr Chaudhry had NOTHING to do with the $86m Exim Bank loan to FSC in 2005 and it is mischievous to even infer he might be connected .
Former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase himself clarified this in his lengthy media release of 9 December 2005 (which you publicized in your website).
I quote: “This loan was secured by (SDL) government for FSC in a direct government to government negotiation with India. I personally wrote to the Government of India through it’s High Commission in Suva, to formally ask for this loan.”
At that time Mr Qarase was desperately trying to discredit Mr Chaudhry who was Leader of the Opposition with the 2006 general elections just around the corner.
He was scratching the bottom of the barrel when he tried to link the letter written by NFU to the chairman of FSC, Charles Walker, to try and support his 2005 allegations. You paraphrased our letter of 2003 to Walker and should know that the background to it all was Walker’s suggestion that farmers should buy shares in FSC. Walker’s plan was to privatise the ailing FSC and suggested that NFU, as the largest farmers’ organization, would be best placed to do so. NFU was a minority shareholder in FSC at the time.
But our bid for equity in FSC was refused as mentioned in my statement. The matter was thus dropped. The allegation of a commission, therefore, had no substance. Nor could MrQarase provide any proof of such.
Secondly, as I pointed out in my statement this was 16 months before the Indian Technology Mission even began its work with FSC in Fiji. The so-called Sugar Industry Reform had not even begun then. So where’s the link???
Senator Anand Singh did say he was personally pursuing some interests with companies in India. I or the NFU had nothing to do with this as Mr Singh himself clarified at the time of the controversy."
Mahendra Chaudhry
General Secretary
National Farmers Union
For the record, Mr Chaudhry had NOTHING to do with the $86m Exim Bank loan to FSC in 2005 and it is mischievous to even infer he might be connected .
Former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase himself clarified this in his lengthy media release of 9 December 2005 (which you publicized in your website).
I quote: “This loan was secured by (SDL) government for FSC in a direct government to government negotiation with India. I personally wrote to the Government of India through it’s High Commission in Suva, to formally ask for this loan.”
At that time Mr Qarase was desperately trying to discredit Mr Chaudhry who was Leader of the Opposition with the 2006 general elections just around the corner.
He was scratching the bottom of the barrel when he tried to link the letter written by NFU to the chairman of FSC, Charles Walker, to try and support his 2005 allegations. You paraphrased our letter of 2003 to Walker and should know that the background to it all was Walker’s suggestion that farmers should buy shares in FSC. Walker’s plan was to privatise the ailing FSC and suggested that NFU, as the largest farmers’ organization, would be best placed to do so. NFU was a minority shareholder in FSC at the time.
But our bid for equity in FSC was refused as mentioned in my statement. The matter was thus dropped. The allegation of a commission, therefore, had no substance. Nor could MrQarase provide any proof of such.
Secondly, as I pointed out in my statement this was 16 months before the Indian Technology Mission even began its work with FSC in Fiji. The so-called Sugar Industry Reform had not even begun then. So where’s the link???
Senator Anand Singh did say he was personally pursuing some interests with companies in India. I or the NFU had nothing to do with this as Mr Singh himself clarified at the time of the controversy."
Mahendra Chaudhry
General Secretary
National Farmers Union
Fijileaks: We merely reported the controversy that had engulfed Fiji regarding the Exim Bank loan in 2005, and also had concluded in yesterday's posting as follows:
Fijileaks Founding Editor-in-Chief:
As for the late ANAND SINGH (RIP), the former FLP Attorney-General and Senator had helped us (along with Dr Ganesh Chand, now our Editor-in-Chief's fiercest critic, spreading malicious gossip that I am in the pay roll of Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum), track down Chaudhry's $2million in the Sydney bank account.
*The former FLP Government minister and economist Chand had analyzed Chaudhry's tax records from the 'Tax File' that was leaked to us from inside FRCA, to conclude that Chaudhry was guilty of tax evasion.
As for Anand Singh, the poor soul went on to represent Chaudhry in the tax evasion trial, where the FLP leader and NFU general secretary was found guilty and fined over one million dollars.
*Chaudhry's late lawyer Anand Singh once thought his client was "a daaku" (crook) and the secret $2million did not belong to him (Chaudhry) but to the Indo-Fijian victims of George Speight's 2000 coup.
'I think he is a chor (crook) and should be shown to be one...Daaku will forever curse himself for having left the money in Australia. He must regret not putting it in Hong Kong':
Anand Singh to Victor Lal, 21 February 2008
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Mahendra Chaudhry's lawyer Anand Singh, 21 February 2008:
