Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Calls to probe alleged tax evasion of Fiji interim minister

Posted at 02:49 on 31 July, 2007 UTC

There are calls in Fiji for an investigation into a senior politician’s alleged tax evasion on incomes of up to 107,000 US dollars a year.

The Daily Post reports that the politician, who is now a minister of the interim government, is alleged to have failed to declare his income fully and was investigated by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority on at least four occasions.

The general secretary of the authority’s Staff Association, Kenneth Zinck, says the allegations should be investigated because the matter is serious and no one is above the law.

Mr Zinck says the military’s clean-up campaign which led to the removal of the SDL government should not leave this matter aside.

He says if officers of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption can just walk in and remove the tax files of the suspended chief justice, Daniel Fatiaki, they should do the same with allegations about the interim minister.

The Daily Post website reports that its Chief of Staff, Imanueli Tumoi, has been taken in for questioning in relation to this report.