The total value of suspicious transactions reported to the Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit in 2018 increased to $78.8 million from $49.1 million the previous year.

Suspicious

Majority of the Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) were reported on the grounds of advanced fee fraud followed by tax evasion.

In its 2018 annual report, the FIU said the majority of STRs in 2018 continued to be reported by commercial banks followed by the money remittance service providers (MRSPs).

Approximately 80 per cent of the STRs submitted by financial institutions in 2018 was reported on transactions valued below $50,000, out of which 43 per cent of STRs were on transactions valued below $5000.

“Cash continued to be the primary financial instrument type that is reflected in the STRs reported to the FIU,” according to the annual report.

“The majority, 75 per cent of the STRs reported in 2018 involved Fijian currency.

“There were 529 (84 per cent) STRs reported on transactions conducted by individuals/personal customers. Fifty-four per cent of STRs on individuals were reported on customers over the age of 40 years.”

According to the FIU, majority of the STRs continued to be received from financial institutions based in the Central/Eastern Division due to the concentration of economic and commercial activities in the division.

Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs)

The FIU received 968,693 CTRs in 2018 or an average of around 80,724 CTRs per month.

It said the majority (99 per cent) of the CTRs received during 2018 were reported by commercial banks.

The majority (43 per cent) of CTRs were for cash transactions between $10,001 and $20,000.

Electronic Fund Transfer Reports (EFTRs)

The FIU received 1,357,246 EFTRs in 2018 or an average of around 113,104 per month, according to its annual report.

The majority or 71 per cent of EFTRs were received from the money remittance service providers.

According to the FIU annual report, EFTRs may involve remittances into Fiji or remittances out of Fiji.

The majority or 78 per cent of EFTRs received during 2018 were inward remittance transactions.

The FIU said there was no monetary threshold for EFTRs.

Border Currency Reports

In 2018, 969 BCR were submitted to the FIU compared to 792 BCRs in 2017.

The FIU said there were more declarations made by outbound travellers compared to inbound travellers in 2018.

It said the total value of currency declared by travellers in the BCRs in 2018 was $62.7 million compared to $49.9 million in 2017.

Failure To Declare Currency

In 2018, there were 50 reported cases of BCR non-declaration compared to 46 cases of persons brought before the court for failing to declare currency in 2017.

According to FIU, most of the cases were detected at Nadi International Airport and the remainder were detected at the Nausori Airport and various seaports.

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