More senior officials of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) are likely to be charged soon in connection with an alleged driving licence scam.

This is after one LTA officer and eight other members of the public appeared in the Nasinu Magistrates Court yesterday in relation to the alleged scam. (See Report, page 3)

Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) said in a statement last night: “The Commission is further investigating senior officials of the LTA and will be laying charges in the coming days.”

The Fiji Sun had exposed the alleged scam in several articles after it conducted its own investigations.

FICAC said it was continuing investigations into various complaints received against some public officials of the LTA.

It said: “One of the reasons for this investigation to be carried forward was through the Fiji Sun Newspaper, which through its investigative journalism writing referred certain complaints of allegations of corrupt activities of LTA staff to the LTA Board.

“The Board then referred this matter to FICAC for investigations.

“One of the major concerns was the unlawful issuance of driving licences to members of the public and the allegations that certain LTA staff were not adhering to due processes and abused powers of authority and office to commit unlawful acts.

“Investigations have revealed that some LTA officers are issuing licences without proper theoretical and practical procedures being followed.  Furthermore, there are also investigations underway in relation to manipulation of issuing of defensive driving certificates between public officers and drivers.

“This concerns and affects National Security as safety on the roads is paramount and the rule of law is to be abided by at all times.

“These kinds of activities can lead to unqualified drivers on Fiji roads, which is a threat to the members of the public as a whole.

“FICAC encourages members of the public to follow the due processes in attaining a driver’s licence and also in any transaction with the LTA without adhering to dishonest practices.

“A former Customer Service Officer of LTA, William PawaTuiono, was produced in Court yesterday for Bribery, Abuse of Office and Unauthorized Modification of Data charges. It is alleged that Tuiono knowingly caused unauthorization of false data at LTA in issuing driver’s licences.

“FICAC also charged eight (8) other persons for “Dishonestly Obtaining a Gain”, these Accused persons acquired drivers license without following due processes of the LTA with the intention of dishonestly obtaining the driver’s licences.