Director CID to lead team that will investigate cases regarding abuse of the CARE for Fiji programmes

Police say that a team will be led by the Director CID to investigate cases that will be referred to them by the Ministry of Economy.

This is in regards to the abuse of the CARE for Fiji programmes.

A amnesty period which is till next Sunday has been given to people who had not been affected by Tropical Cyclone Josie and Keni, but had applied and received assistance under the CARE for Fiji programmes, so these people can return their electronic cards, or any other form of assistance received.

The amnesty period applies for all ineligible recipients under Farms CARE, Homes CARE, eTransport CARE, Leaseholders CARE and Sugarcane CARE and during this amnesty period, the electronic cards that have already been spent by an ineligible recipient must also be repaid in full.

Electronic cards granted through Farms CARE can be returned to any agriculture office in the country while all other CARE for Fiji electronic cards, or other forms of assistance can be returned or refunded at any social welfare office in the country.

The government is urging any ineligible CARE for Fiji recipients to take advantage of this amnesty period, as otherwise the consequences for abusing any CARE for Fiji programmes can be very serious.

Under the False Information Act 2016, any false information given to Government for the purposes of receiving a benefit is an offence punishable by law, and may result in a requirement to repay the benefit, a fine of up to $20,000 or an imprisonment term of up to 10 years.