The Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde has appointed senior legal officer, Moira Konrote, to head the newly-established Proceeds of Crime Taskforce.

This is a specialist unit within the Serious Fraud Division of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). The unit will be the central liaison point in the ODPP for money laundering and proceeds of crime matters.

It will be responsible for developing working relationships with other proceeds of crime agencies such as: the Police anti-money laundering unit, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service, as well as international agencies such as the New Zealand Asset Recovery Unit.

Mr Pryde said: “There has been a marked increase in drug offences over the past five years and an exponential increase in the proceeds of this crime being laundered through the financial system in Fiji. “

“The aim of the PCTF (taskforce) is to concentrate our efforts in attacking the drug problem by removing the profit.”

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