Ousted Social Welfare Minister Adi Asenaca Caucau is now stranded in the US with no valid Fiji passport, a court case hanging over her head after she allegedly assaulted a person over the weekend and a bench warrant out for her in Fiji.
Fijivillage has received confirmation that Adi Asenaca Caucau allegedly assaulted a female Fiji citizen over some personal issues at the San Francisco Airport on Sunday.
She was allegedly on her way back from the US to Australia with her partner when the woman confronted her.
This resulted in Asenaca Caucau allegedly assaulting the woman.
American police officers at the San Francisco Airport then arrested her and she was charged with assault.
When her travel documents were requested, it then came to light that she was carrying a diplomatic passport from Fiji.
The US authorities then contacted the Immigration Department in Suva.
In an exclusive interview with Fijivillage, Fiji's Immigration Director Commander Viliame Naupoto confirmed that the diplomatic passport that Caucau is travelling with is no longer valid.
"We’ve had correspondence from our embassy in Washington regarding Asenaca Caucau. We’ve informed our embassy that the passport that she’s actually holding is cancelled in our system. We’ve been trying to get hold of her diplomatic passport, but she has obviously been travelling with the diplomatic passport even though she’s no longer entitled to it. What has happened is: we’ve asked the embassy to send the passport back to us and that is happened and Asenaca Caucau will be issued with a certificate of identity to enable her to travel back to Fiji."
Commander Naupoto is unsure at this stage whether Adi Asenaca Caucau will be deported to Fiji, however, he confirmed that Caucau has already contacted him from the US.
"I’m not sure what the American Government will do. But the passport has been sent to the embassy to be sent to us. Diplomatic passports remain the property of Government and it has to be sent to us to be physically cancelled. I’ve had a talk with Asenaca Caucau. She called me on the phone and I’ve explained to her that the passport she’s been travelling on is cancelled in the system and has to be returned to immigration for physical cancellation. We stamp the pages so that it is cancelled. If she has to be sent back to Fiji, the embassy in Washing – and we’ve had discussions – are prepared to issue her with a certificate of identification to facilitate her travel back."
Meanwhile, there are also revelations today that Adi Asenaca Caucau will be arrested by police once she arrives in Fiji for allegedly breaching a court order.
Director Traffic SSP Ramend Raju has confirmed that Caucau was charged with Careless Driving by Nausori Police and she was ordered to appear in the Nausori Magistrates Court in 2006 however she did not turn up.
Caucau was involved in a road accident in Nausori a few weeks before the 2006 General Elections.
She allegedly drove her government vehicle in a careless and dangerous manner which led to her official government vehicle colliding with a private car.
A bench warrant is pending against her and SSP Raju has confirmed that she will be arrested and taken to court once she arrives in the country to answer charges of careless driving and absconding bail.
