ABUSE of office and bribery top the list of the most common corruption-related offences in Fiji.
And 75.5 per cent of convicted individuals are from the public sector, the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) revealed.
FICAC said the falsification of documents, forgery and information from false documents continued to top the list of the various forms of corruption committed in Fiji as of last year.
FICAC media liaison officer Nandni Vandhana said there was no definite reason as to why there was an increase in such offences.
“But it is quite obvious there’s an element of greed and need for personal gain at play here,”Ms Vandhana said.
“However, individuals contemplating engaging in or already engaged in corrupt practices must remember they are not invincible and they will be caught so they must stop and don’t even think of being corrupt.
Ms Vandhana said a lot of people had turned up to their office branches in Suva, Lautoka and Labasa to lodge complaints.
In December last year, FICAC revealed it had prosecuted 224 corruption-related cases, which included 364 accused persons in the past 10 years.
“From 2007 to 2016 alone, we’ve conducted 1499 education and awareness sessions and we hope to add to that this year.”
