23 Sep 2013

Vanuatu Police investigate allegations of fraud in fisheries dept

6:34 pm on 23 September 2013

Police in Vanuatu are investigating allegations of fraud and forgery involving the Vanuatu Department of Fisheries.

The allegations centre on the export of live Red King Crabs from Japan to South Korea, falsely labelled as the product of Vanuatu.

There are fears that the crabs come from a contaminated area in Japan.

Vanuatu's Ministry of Fisheries has confirmed the allegations but will not give more details.

The claim is that Dahae Company Limited in Busan, South Korea, had allegedly falsified a signature of a fisheries staff member in Port Vila to certify the receipt of more than 5 thousand kilogrammes of crabs from Vanuatu.

Sources in Vanuatu say there was no agreement or consent between the company and the fisheries department and it considers the use of the signature as fraud.

The Japanese company involved, Hokkaido Suisan, also allegedlly used the name of a Vanuatu fishing company on a fake consignment certificate.