30 Jun 2007

Fiji's commission against corruption raids headquarters of two financial institutions

4:46 am on 30 June 2007

Officers of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption have raided the headquarters of the two of the country's largest financial institutions.

They are the state-owned Fiji Development Bank and the indigenous owned company, Fijian Holdings Limited, whose assets exceed 160-million US dollars.

The deputy commissioner of the Commission Against Corruption, Captain Esala Teleni, says there are serious allegations regarding the two institutions both of which have agreed to co-operate.

The Development Bank's managing director, Tukana Bavoro, says they have nothing to hide but he hopes FICAC officers will respect client confidentiality.

Fijian Holdings has released a statement through the Stock Exchange saying allegations against it appear to be related to its shareholding base but it will not question the legality of FICAC's actions.