Man charged for allegedly dishonestly obtaining $1,650 from a retailer via MPaisa

A 36-year-old man from Legalega in Nadi has been charged for allegedly obtaining more than $1,600 by deception from a major retailer of home durable goods.

Police say the accused, on the 18th of August last year, allegedly dishonestly obtained $1,650 cash from the retailer’s Labasa branch through the MPAiSA platform.

They say investigations revealed that the accused called up a staff of the company, pretending to be the Manager of the mobile service provider who needed to update the Mpaisa QR machine.

He instructed the staff to follow the instructions on his command which the staff did, resulting in the transfer of the said amount to his MPAiSA number.

Police say the accused has since been charged with one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception and will appear in the Suva Magistrates Court today.