A 3 member Independent team has been appointed by the Interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama to carry out an inquiry to scrutinize allegations leveled against Interim Finance Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry with regards to his tax details.
In a press conference this afternoon, the Interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum said the team begun its work two days ago and adds that their finding will be submitted to Interim Prime Minister, Commodore Bainimarama who will then decide on Chaudhry's fate.
He added that the team has not been given a time frame to complete its inquiry.
Sayed Khaiyum also said financial details of any public figure like Chaudhry was never made public in the past by any government.
Meanwhile Sayed Khaiyum said to facilitate the inquiry Chaudhry has voluntarily agreed to make available his tax files at FIRCA and any files in the Reserve Bank to the Inquiry team.
According to Sayed Khaiyum the team is headed by Bruce Cowley, who is a member of the International Bar Association and is familiar with laws in Fiji as he has carried out a number of assignments in Fiji since the SVT Government days.
Another member of the team is Russel Postle, a tax specialist and a member of the Forensic Accountants Special Group of the Institute of Accountants in Australia along with Taufa Vakatale an Educationist.
Reactions to this inquiry:
The National Federation Party has questioned the criteria which was used to appoint the three member inquiry team to investigate Interim Finance Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry.
General Secretary, Pramod Rae now said the appointment was done secretly.
Rae asks what’s the use of a second inquiry against Chaudhry when nothing was done after the first inquiry.
Ousted Opposition Leader Mick Beddoes has welcomed the move by the Interim Prime Minister to start investigations into the matters surrounding Interim Finance Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry's tax details.
Beddoes said he fully supports the investigation saying it is a timely move.
However, Beddoes said for the findings of the team to be credible 3 conditions need to be fully met.
These are that Mahendra Chaudhry needs to step aside for the cause of investigation since his presence would not deem the findings of the investigation as transparent and credible.
Beddoes adds Chaudhry knows what he should do as this is not the first case against a public officer.
Secondly with regards to Taufa Vakatale's inclusion in the team, he said Vakatale was a member of the FHRC suspect inquiry into the 2006 elections. And also the two other members of the team are unknown and call for the selection criteria for the two Australians be made public.
The fact that a timeline has not been given to the team according to Beddoes raises the question of whether the interim Administration is trying to cover up certain issues.
