Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption - FICAC

FICAC Officer Ms Perina Manaseitava of the Good Governance Unit facilitated an Anti-Corruption Awareness Session today at Outsource Fiji.

The session provided education and information on the laws and offences, corruption risks and potential consequences.

Ms Manaseitava advocated on the importance of identifying corruption risks in their areas of work and implementing best practices.

FICAC Officers Mr Amit Sami and Mr Inoke Drawe from the Good Governance Unit conducted an Anti-Corruption Awareness Session today for workers of the Nasinu Town Council in Valelevu.

The session covered the meaning of corruption, common forms of corruption at the grassroots level, bribery, FICAC’s role in combating corruption, and the responsibility of citizens in ensuring public projects are implemented successfully.

Participants were also encouraged to understand why the fight against corruption matters to everyone, including municipal workers, and were invited to join FICAC in promoting integrity, transparency, and accountability in their communities.

FICAC officers came together today to present their ireguregu to their colleague, Ms Banuve Wainimala, following the passing of her mother.

Manager Investigation, Central Eastern, Mr Mosese Matanisiga led the delegation on behalf of Acting Commissioner Ms Lavi Rokoika as officers joined in support of their colleague, offering their condolences, prayers, and presence during this difficult time.

To Ms Wainimala and family, may your mother rest in eternal peace.

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐓𝐂 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐪𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐚

The Suva Magistrates Court has set a date for the Pre-Trial Conference for the case against Ms Tanya Waqanika.

The Suva lawyer is charged by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) with one count of Publicly Indicating Opposition to a Political Party.

Appearing before Resident Magistrate Yogesh Prasad, Counsel for FICAC, Mr Joseph Work informed the court that the documents for Pre-Trial Conference have been served to the defence.

Defence counsel, Ms Barbara Malimali acknowledged receiving the same.

Mr Work added that all documents that the prosecution is intending on relying for trial proper has been served.

He said in relation to the Caution Interview, there are partial admissions that the prosecution will be relying upon.

Ms Malimali said the defence will not be challenging these admissions.

Resident Magistrate Prasad adjourned the matter to 16 June 2026 for Pre-Trial Conference.

It is alleged that on or about 19 April 2024, while serving as a public officer namely as a Board Member of Investment Fiji and Telecom Fiji Limited, Ms Waqanika publicly indicated opposition to the political party SODELPA.

𝐄𝐍𝐃//

𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐢𝐝

Former civil servant, Rahul Ravikash Kumar's application for an enlargement of time to appeal against his sentence has been dismissed by the Suva High Court.

Mr Kumar, a former employee of the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts, was convicted and sentenced on 14 March 2025 after being found guilty of 56 counts of money laundering, one count of unauthorised modification of data, and one count of obtaining a financial advantage.

The Court found that between 4 April 2017 and 20 June 2020, Mr Kumar unlawfully accessed the Ministry's Financial Management System, modified
data without authority, and obtained $341,981.81.

He was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 5 years.

Mr Kumar subsequently applied for an enlargement of time to appeal against the aggregate custodial sentence.

Puisne Judge Justice Pita Bulamainavalu delivered the ruling today and said that on 16 December 2025, Mr Kumar filed the application in the High Court Criminal Registry, but the petition of appeal was lodged approximately 8 months out of time.

He said the statutory 28-day period for filing the petition had lapsed on or about 11 April 2025.

Justice Bulamainavalu stated that the applicant's petition of appeal ought to have been filed within 28 days from 14 March 2025.

Mr Kumar submitted that his counsel in the Magistrates' Court had instructed him not to appeal, despite being aware of the 28-day filing requirement.

He further submitted that a civil forfeiture action was being pursued against him and that he did not receive a copy of the sentencing decision until much later.

State Counsel for the respondent, the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC), Ms Nimisha Shankar, argued that the reasons advanced by the applicant for the delay, including the concurrent civil forfeiture proceedings, did not constitute good cause.

Justice Bulamainavalu stated that the applicant had advanced two grounds of appeal against sentence, alleging that the sentencing magistrate had erred.

The first ground alleged that extraneous or irrelevant matters were allowed to influence the sentence and that insufficient consideration was given to the mitigating factors presented by the applicant.

The second ground alleged that the sentencing court had been informed that no funds had been recovered, whereas the applicant asserted that FICAC had prior knowledge of forfeiture proceedings commenced before he was formally
charged.

Justice Bulamainavalu noted that the applicant had not properly advanced these grounds in a formal petition of appeal, but had instead raised them only in submissions relating to the application for enlargement of time to appeal against sentence.

After carefully considering the sentence imposed by the learned magistrate, the Court found that the applicant's proposed grounds of appeal were not
meritorious and had no real prospect of success on appeal.

Accordingly, Mr Kumar's application was denied and dismissed.

The application was heard on 11 May 2026, with the ruling delivered on 25

May 2026. Mr Kumar has 30 days to appeal to the Fiji Court of Appeal.

𝐄𝐍𝐃//

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞

The case of Charlie Charters in the Suva Magistrate Court has been adjourned to next month.

Mr Charters is charged by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) with 2 counts of Aiding and Abetting.

The matter was called on 22 May 2026 before Resident Magistrate Shageeth Somaratne for an update on Mr Charters’ application for a Permanent Stay of Criminal Proceedings in the Suva High Court for the charges brought against him.

Defence counsel, Mr Seforan Fatiaki informed the court that the stay application is now before the High Court.

He requested for an adjournment of the current matter in the Magistrates Court until the end of the stay application proceedings.

In response, FICAC Counsel Mr Rusiate Doidoi confirmed that the stay application is now before the High Court.

In addition, Mr Doidoi said that the prosecution has additional disclosures that it wants to serve to the defence for the substantive matter.

He sought 14 days to file the proposed agreed facts and documents and thereafter, the two parties can proceed with the Pre-Trial Conference stage.

RM Somaratne adjourned the matter to 30 June 2026 for mention to check on Pre-Trial Conference and the filing of the additional disclosures.

The Resident Magistrate said the next court date will also be to check if Mr Charters has returned to the country after he was granted permission by the court to temporarily reside in Hong Kong while awaiting the determination of the charges brought against him.

𝐄𝐍𝐃//

𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠!

Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) is looking to recruit an aspired and dedicated professional to the position of 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫, based at our Headquarters in Suva.

Interested applicants are required to complete the FICAC Job Application Form available at the FICAC Website under "Career Opportunities. Link: https://www.ficac.org.fj/careers.html.

Application must also include Curriculum Vitae (CV) and certified copies of academic qualification and professional trainings attended.

All applications must be addressed to the Office of the Commissioner for the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption and submitted via:

𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥:
𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡@𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑐.𝑜𝑟𝑔.𝑓𝑗

𝐎𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨:
𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒
3 𝑆𝑡 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡
𝑆𝑈𝑉𝐴.

Applications close at 𝟒𝐩𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟐𝟖 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. Late and/or incomplete applications will not be considered.

𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠!

Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) is looking to recruit an aspired and dedicated professional to the position of 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫, based at our Headquarters in Suva.

Interested applicants are required to complete the FICAC Job Application Form available at the FICAC Website under "Career Opportunities. Link: https://www.ficac.org.fj/careers.html.

Application must also include Curriculum Vitae (CV) and certified copies of academic qualification and professional trainings attended.

All applications must be addressed to the Office of the Commissioner for the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption and submitted via:

𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥:
𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡@𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑐.𝑜𝑟𝑔.𝑓𝑗

𝐎𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨:
𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑛 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒
3 𝑆𝑡 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡
𝑆𝑈𝑉𝐴.

Applications close at 𝟒𝐩𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟐𝟖 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. Late and/or incomplete applications will not be considered.

𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐂 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐕𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬

Chief Education and Anti-Corruption Officer, Mr Amit Sami, represented the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) on 21 May 2026 at the Validation Workshop session in Nasese, Suva, to develop the draft National Ageing Policy 2026–2035.

The workshop forms part of the review and update of Fiji’s National Ageing Policy 2011–2015 and was organised by the National Council for Older Persons in collaboration with the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection.

The process includes a series of validation workshops in Suva this week to engage key stakeholders on thematic priority areas in the draft policy.

During the workshop, Mr Sami highlighted the rising trends of corruption affecting older persons in Fiji, including issues relating to pension administration, access to social welfare services, land lease arrangements, inheritance and property manipulation, as well as the abuse of authority involving vulnerable older persons.

Mr Sami also emphasised the importance of ensuring that awareness and reporting mechanisms for older persons are simple and accessible.

He further noted the growing incidence of digital fraud and scams targeting elderly persons, which require coordinated public education and awareness initiatives.

Mr Sami added that FICAC remains committed to supporting measures that promote accountability and transparency and protect vulnerable older persons, in line with the Commission’s statutory mandate.