Major taxi permit scam in the west, 3 LTA staff allegedly involved

Some of the Land Transport Authority staff members are allegedly participating in a scam related to the issuance of taxi permits and number plates within the Western Division.

LTA says they had recently become aware of this grave situation.

Preliminary investigations are already underway to delve into the specifics of the alleged fraudulent issuance of taxi permits.

Three LTA staff members are suspected to have colluded in this illegal operation.

The Authority says they view this matter with utmost seriousness and wants to assure the public that LTA will not tolerate any form of corruption or fraudulent activities within the organisation.

The matter has also been reported to FICAC through the directive of the Acting Chief Executive Officer.

FICAC has joined forces with the Authority to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the allegations.

The Authority says it believes in complete transparency, and the collaboration with FICAC ensures that the investigation is unbiased and impartial.

As an immediate measure, the three LTA officers implicated in the alleged scam have been suspended from their duties pending the outcome of the investigation.

The fraudulent issuance of taxi permits has had severe consequences, with approximately 90 taxi permits being illegally obtained through the alleged collusion of these officers.

In response, an LTA retrieval team is actively working to recover and confiscate any illegally issued taxi permits and number plates linked to the implicated officers.

In light of this incident, the LTA is also set to review and enhance internal systems, internal monitoring mechanisms, and implement robust risk mitigation strategies.

It has also been confirmed that the issuance of taxi permits will now be handled exclusively by regional managers and team leaders to restrict unauthorised access to the process.

The Authority will also explore the implementation of an electronic system for the issuance of permits to eliminate potential loopholes in the manual issuance process.

They also encourage people who may have obtained taxi permits through transactions not undertaken at arms length or over the counter to come forward and report the matter to the Fiji Police Force, as their co-operation is crucial in assisting with ongoing investigations.