Justice expresses concern with investment licenses
Jul 19, 2005, 12:25

The Ministry of Justice is concerned with investment licenses issued by the Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau and has cautioned them to be more wary of who it issues licences to.

The Ministry is concerned because it believes Fiji could become a centre for money laundering.

The call from the Ministry comes after the Financial Intelligence Unit discovered a trend whereby some investors who have been approved to set up shops in Fiji, are in fact repatriating millions abroad.

In the first half of this year, the Financial Intelligence Unit believes at least 10 million dollars was repatriated overseas illegally.

The Justice Ministry said while there are legal provisions for genuine investors to repatriate profits overseas, some are abusing Fiji’s investor friendly environment.

“We are now emphasising quality investment instead of quantity,” the Ministry said.

Between January and July 1st, the FIU detected a staggering 800 suspicious financial transactions meaning just over 130 suspicious transactions every month.

These statistics are the result of voluntary reporting, and could rise dramatically once the Financial Transactions Reporting Act makes its compulsory.

There are also concerns that unscrupulous investors could attempt to buy out those in key agencies.

The Ministry said the only way to effectively combat these issues is through a combined approach.

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