Former Prime Minister and Fiji Labour Party leader, Mahendra Chaudhry has been found guilty of all three counts of breaching the Exchange Control Act by High Court Judge, Justice Paul Madigan.
Justice Madigan concurred with the four assessors who found him guilty earlier this afternoon and convicted him of all the charges.
The judge told Chaudhry that the case against him represented by the three charges is overwhelming.
He said that there has been no defence evidence that would explain or contradict the facts.
Justice Madigan said there is no question that Chaudhry was a resident of Fiji at all relevant times and there is no question that Chaudhry was in control of approximately 1.5 million Australian dollars in Australia and New Zealand.
Judge Madigan told Chaudhry that having been aware at least as early as October 2009 of the probability of breach of provisions of the Exchange Control Act, he did nothing to repatriate the funds to an authorised dealer in Fiji.
The judge said Chaudhry invested funds and deposited funds thereby giving loans to financial institutions and despite notice, he delayed repatriating the funds to Fiji as required by the Act.
Mitigation and sentencing will be done on the 1st of May.
Justice Madigan has ordered Chaudhry not to access the 1.5 million Australian dollars directly or indirectly between now and the sentencing.
He is also forbidden to travel outside Fiji and his passport will be held by the court.
Chaudhry's bail has been extended until his sentencing. Prosecution did not object to it.
Chaudhry's lawyer, Matthew Hutchings will now lead the case in mitigation as QC Peter Bodor will not be available for it.
Hutchings said his client, Chaudhry is 72 years old and has cardiac problems.
He said they won't be able to produce a medical report now and asked for the matter to be called on the 1st or 2nd of May so that he can prepare for mitigation.
Justice Madigan referred to the Sentencing and Penalties Decree, and said that sentencing must be done immediately after conviction.
Hutchings informed the court that between 2000 and 2010, Chaudhry has travelled 12 times overseas and during these times he has received medical treatment.
Chaudhry's lawyer said Chaudhry is not a flight risk and he has always followed the bail conditions.
He also said that there have been no attempts made to access the 1.5 million Australian dollars.
Justice Madigan adjourned the case to the 1st of May in the interest of justice and to give Chaudhry time to prepare for mitigation.
The judge earlier highlighted that the penalty for such charges ranges from two years imprisonment to fines amounting to three times of the value of the original amount in the offence.
In Chaudhry's case, it would be 4.5 million Australian dollars.
The first count against Chaudhry is in relation to failure to surrender foreign currency, where Mahendra Chaudhry between November 2000 and July 2010 retained the sum of 1.5 million Australian dollars for his own benefit without the consent of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
The second count is in relation to dealing in foreign currency without permission.
The third count relates to Chaudhry having the right to receive a sum of $1.5 million Australian dollars from the financial institutions in Australia and New Zealand, caused the delay of payment of the sum, in whole or in part, to himself by authorizing the continual investment of the sum together with interest acquired back into financial institutions without the permission of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
Story by: Vijay Narayan and Praneeta Prakash
