A former Tax Officer with the Fiji Revenue and Cus­toms Service (FRCS), who was convicted of bribery, has been handed a suspended sentence by the Anti-Corruption Magistrates Court in Suva.

Pritam Singh was charged by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) in 2015 with one count of bribery for accepting $1200 in cash and $6300 in a cheque from a businessman.

At the time of the offence, he was employed as a Tax Officer with the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) and had solicited the bribe for assisting the businessman to clear his purported tax.

He was arrested by the FICAC of­ficial while receiving the bribe, which amounted to $7500.

Magistrate Jeremiah Savou said the offender did not have an op­portunity to enjoy the fruits of his deeds.

He convicted Singh as charged and handed a 21-month imprison­ment term which was suspended for three years.

He told Singh that if he was con­victed for an offence between the three years, his 21-month imprison­ment term would come in place to be served.

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