Vegetable farmer guilty of fraud

A vegetable farmer who tried to defraud the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority of more than $16,000 in 2008 has been found guilty by the Lautoka High Court.

Judge Justice Sitabaram Pillai Thurairaja concurred with the assessors and convicted Mohammed Rizwan on five counts forgery, endeavoring to obtain property on forged documents and uttering forged document.

The court heard that between October and November in 2008, Rizwan tried to obtain $16,694.80 from the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority through a Value Added Tax return form in the name of Irshad Mohammed.
 
He forged an Application for Registration of Salary or Sole Trader Business Form and a Provisional Tax Calculation Form purporting to be for Irshad Mohammed and forged an Application for Registration of Business by an Individual purported to be for Anytime Builders.

Rizwan will be sentenced next Tuesday.


Story by: Praneeta Prakash