A man who conspired with others to defraud the Fiji Islands Revenue and Customs Authority has been sentenced to 2 years imprisonment by High Court Judge Justice Daniel Goundar this morning.

Salendra Sen Sinha was found guilty of 2 counts of causing payment of money by virtue of forged instrument and 1 count of money laundering after a trial.

Judge Goundar notes that Sinha was part of a scheme to defraud FIRCA and obtained substantial amount of money on pretexr of legitimate VAT refunds after establishing a shelf company called Honeymoon Beach Resort Limited.

Sinha with the help of employees of FIRCA also obtained two forged cheques of FIRCA and after depositing it into his bank account obtained $272,219.

The Judge stated that Sinha's offence shows a high degree of planning and sophistication and the money laundering charge is based on the withdrawal transactions he made from his Westpac account.

The Judge told Sinha that he is not a young and a first time offender as he has a long list of previous convictions.

Sinha was sentenced to two years behind bars and will not be eligible for parole for the next 18 months.

Judge Justice Goundar also ordered that the sum of $85,000 in Sinha's Westpac account is to be restored to the Fiji Islands Revenue and Customs Authority.

Story by: Roneel Lal