Former Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry will now only face three counts of breach of the Exchange Control Act.

This follows the High Court decision to quash the five counts of money laundering charges against Chaudhry today.

Justice Daniel Goundar has also ruled that Chaudhry's four counts of making false statements in his income tax returns under the Penal Code are permanently stayed for an abuse of process arising from the same conduct being time barred under the Income Tax Act.

It has been revealed in court that Chaudhry fully complied with the Fiji Revenue Customs Authority's assessment in 2004 on the donated funds and paid his outstanding taxes.

After 2007, the offence of making a false tax return under the Income Tax Act was time barred.

So by the time Chaudhry was charged in July 2010, he could not be prosecuted for making a false return under the Act.

The judge ruled on two pre-trial applications by Chaudhry.

The first was seeking an order for a stay of prosecution on the grounds of abuse of process while the second application was an order to quash the information for not disclosing an offence.
 
Justice Goundar said these money laundering charges are quashed on the ground that the Court has no jurisdiction to try those charges since they are for alleged acts prior to 1st September 2005.

He said these money laundering laws came into effect in 2005, and the intention of the Parliament was to give jurisdiction to the courts in Fiji over properties abroad.

Justice Goundar said the courts in Fiji do not have jurisdiction over money laundering offences allegedly committed before 1st September 2005, in relation to properties abroad. 

However, Judge Goundar ruled that no abuse of process has been established in relation to the charges under the Exchange Control Act and the trial will proceed on three counts of breach of the Exchange Control Act.

Following the High Court ruling, Chaudhry today pleaded not guilty to the three counts of breach of the Exchange Control Act.

The first count against Chaudhry is in relation to failure to surrender foreign currency, where it is alleged that Mahendra Chaudhry between November 2000 and July 2010 retained the sum of $1.5 million Australian dollars for his own use and benefit, without the consent of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji.

The second count is in relation to dealing in foreign currency otherwise than with an authorised dealer without permission where it is also alleged that Chaudhry between November 2000 and July 2010 did lend $1.5 million Australian dollars to persons otherwise than an authorised dealer, namely the Financial Institutions in Australia and New Zealand without the permission of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji.

The third count relates to failure to collect debts where it is alleged that Chaudhry having the right to receive a sum of $1.5 million Australian dollars from the Financial Institutions in Australia and New Zealand, caused the delay of payment of the sum, in whole or in part, to himself by authorizing the continual re-investment of the sum together with interest acquired back into the Financial Institutions without the permission of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji.

The case has been adjourned to 13th August for the pre-trial conference.

Story by: Vijay Narayan and Ronal Deo