“At TLTB, we have found out that letters brought into our office which has signatures are signed on behalf of the person’s parents, siblings or cousins”

Forging signatures on legal documents is a crime and locals should avoid doing so, says North iTaukei Land Trust Board manager Josaia Waqairatu.

Mr Waqairatu said a person in­volved in forgery can be fined and imprisoned.

“Forgery involves a false docu­ment, signature, or other imitation of an object of value used with the intent to deceive another.

“Those who commit forgery are often charged with the crime of fraud,” Mr Waqairatu said.

“Documents that can be the object of forgery include contracts, iden­tification cards, and legal certifi­cates.

At TLTB, we have found out that letters brought into our office which has signatures are signed on behalf of the person’s parents, siblings or cousins.

“This letter is not received by the board; you should refrain from for­gery as it is listed as a crime,” he said.

Mr Waqairatu said several differ­ent methods can be used to forge signatures.

He said all forged documents re­ceived are reported to Police and the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC).

“Copies, studio replicas, and re­productions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations,” he said.

“One method is the “freehand method”, whereby the forger, af­ter careful practice, replicates the signature by freehand. Although a difficult method to perfect, this of­ten produces the most convincing results.

“In the “trace-over method”, the sheet of paper containing the genuine signature is placed on top of the paper where the forgery is required. The signature is traced over, appearing as a faint indenta­tion on the sheet of paper under­neath.

“A number of characteristics can suggest to us that a signature has been forged, mostly stemming from the forger focusing on accuracy rather than fluency. These include shaky handwritings, pen lifts and very close similarity between two or more signatures.”

Mr Waqairatu urged landown­ers to refrain from relying on oral agreements when dealing with the use of their land.

He said landowners needed to for­malise leases to protect their inter­ests.

“Conflicts on land agreements not formalised by TLTB, would only be resolved in a court of law,” he said.

“But with those leases formalised under TLTB, we can represent the interests of the landowners in cas­es of conflicts or other complica­tions,” he said.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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