The Fijian Elections Office has made it clear that it no longer has confidence in the FICAC Commissioner, Rashmi Aslam in carrying out his duties and making decisions impartially which has led to FEO lodging an additional complaint against Mohammed Saneem and the former Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, with the Fiji Police Force on allegations of bribery, receiving a corrupting benefit and abuse of office.
These relate to Saneem’s remuneration being reviewed and approved after one and a half years had lapsed in his new contract.
The FEO says the amendments to Saneem’s contract included salary increment which included back dating it to preceding one and a half years, government agreeing to pay his tax due on the back pay, payment of election readiness and post election bonus, and Saneem’s family relocation overseas and costs associated with travel and accommodation paid by the FEO for 3 months prior to elections.
The FEO says these benefits given to Saneem through remunerations and allowances were paid out to him during the campaign period of the 2022 General Election.
The Elections Office says it has also lodged a complaint to President, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere against Rashmi Aslam, for failing to declare an alleged conflict of interest he may have with Mohammed Saneem.
The FEO says it is obvious from this alleged conflict of interest that FEO’s complaint against Saneem could be compromised and this is evident when comparing the timeframe of investigations of complaints lodged by Saneem against political parties and its candidates in the previous years to the complaints lodged against Saneem.
The FEO has referred this matter to the Fiji Police Force for their further investigations.
Acting Supervisor of Elections Ana Mataiciwa has filed a complaint against former Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem and former Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum in relation to various allegations of abuse of office.
Chief of Intelligence and Investigations Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police Sakeo Raikaci says the matter has been referred to the Criminal Investigations Department for investigations.
He says the report was lodged at the Totogo Police Station.
FICAC has also confirmed receiving the complaint from the Acting Supervisor of Elections against Saneem, and is investigating the matter.
When questioned by fijivillage News, FICAC says it cannot confirm the date or time of any questioning or interviews as the Commission has to conduct a thorough investigation first.
When asked on when Saneem will be questioned and some past investigations have seen some people taken in for questioning soon after a complaint is filed, FICAC says under the legal process of any criminal investigation, questioning of the suspect is not the first step as there are various legal processes to follow before starting any questioning.
The Commission also says the Fijian Elections Office has issued a statement with the details of the complaint against Saneem therefore FICAC will not comment on this any further.
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