Report: 3 mobile phones for money laundering

A company director was found to have three mobile phones registered under her name which she used for alleged money laundering purposes, according to the Fiji Intelligence Unit 2022 annual report tabled in Parliament yesterday.

The report states the individual was reported to the FIU for unusual financial activity involving the receipt and withdrawal of large sums of money from her three mobile money accounts.

“From January to September 2022, Ms C reportedly made withdrawal transactions totalling approximately $75,000 from her mobile money accounts,” the FIU report states.

“Fiji FIU analysis established that from January 2019 to April 2022, Ms C conducted deposit and withdrawal transactions in her mobile money accounts totalling $66,218 and $65,842 respectively.

“Fiji FIU analysis also established that from 2018 to 2021, Mr C, father of Ms C, conducted large cash deposit and withdrawal transactions ($10,000 and above) totalling $755,450 and $589,483 respectively from his two bank accounts.

“Analysis of Ms C’s taxpayer information revealed that she is a director of Company P, and that she has never lodged any income tax returns. Analysis of Mr C’s taxpayer information revealed that his income tax returns from 2017 to 2019 showed ‘Not Filed’ as the status because his income was below the threshold.”

The FIU report noted the daughter and her father’s financial activities seemed inconsistent with their taxpayer information and the matter was reported to the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service.

The report noted that possible offences committed include alleged tax evasion and money laundering.