Taxi permit scam
LTA suspends 3 officers, investigations in progress
THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) has suspended three LTA officers for the fraudulent issuance of approximately 90 taxi permits.
This was the response from LTA acting chief executive officer Irimaia Rokosawa after
The Fiji Times raised the issue with the authority, after several complaints from taxi operators in Nadi.
“We have recently become aware of a grave situation involving some of our staff members allegedly participating in a scam related to the issuance of taxi permits and number plates within the Western Division,” he said.
Mr Rokosawa said while preliminary investigations were already in progress, they acknowledged that three LTA staff members were suspected to have colluded in the illicit operation.
“Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) has joined forces with the authority to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the allegations,” he said.
“In response to the fraudulent issuance of taxi permits, an LTA retrieval team is actively working to recover and confiscate any illegally issued taxi permits and number plates linked to the implicated officers.”
He said in light of this incident, the authority was set to review and enhance internal systems, internal monitoring mechanisms and implement robust risk mitigation strategies.
“We encourage individuals who may have obtained taxi permits through transactions not undertaken at arms length or over the counter to come forward and report the matter to the Fiji Police Force as their cooperation is crucial in assisting with ongoing investigations.
“Our paramount goal is to swiftly retrieve and confiscate all illegal number plates and taxi permits linked to the implicated officers.”
Mr Rokosawa said they were intensifying efforts to identify and “neutralise any additional individuals outside LTA who may have been involved in this collusion”.
Our paramount goal is to swiftly retrieve and confiscate all illegal number plates and taxi permits linked to the implicated officers – Irimaia Rokosawa