CAR PARTS ‘SCAM’

An alleged scam involving the mysterious disappearance of car parts at the Port of Suva has been uncovered.

It is a significant breakthrough by the Fiji Ports Terminal Limited (FPTL) which has been trying to solve this mystery.

FPTL’s chief executive officer, Hasthika Dela, said yesterday their workers had been blamed in the past.

“The finger was always pointed at our employees and now that we have evidence we are relieved. It’s not our employees,” he said. The evidence, he said, was captured by their CCTV cameras which were installed two years ago. On June 4, a car importer lodged a complaint with FPTL that “body kits” from their cars had been removed.

Body kits are the bottom plates of old model cars. FPTL carried out comprehensive investigations to identify the responsible parties by going through the CCTV footage. Mr Dela said they were surprised that employees of vehicle dealers were allegedly removing parts from vehicles belonging to other car importers.

“We have clearly identified the responsible party for these incidents and all their details have been submitted to Fiji Police to carry out further investigations,” Mr Dela said.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said last night she was still trying to get confirmation.

Mr Dela said according to the FPTL staff, the report had been lodged with the Totogo Police Station in Suva.

“The footage will be shown as evidence tomorrow (today) to the Police,” he said.

The president of the Used Motor Vehicles Association Irshad Jan said he would only comment later on the matter.