Two more people have been charged for allegedly dishonestly obtaining money through the mobile money transfer service, and both men will front court today.
The Fiji Police Force M-PaiSA Task Force is actively investigating reports received from all divisions, and to date, several people have been charged and produced in court for allegedly dishonestly obtaining money via the M-PaiSA platform.
In the latest cases, Police say the first accused is a 28-year-old Lautoka man who allegedly on three occasions in November 2023, dishonestly obtained cash amounting to $1,100 from members of the public through the M-PAiSA platform.
It is alleged that the man had been posting advertisements for a house up for rent using a fake Facebook account for which he received a bond on three different occasions.
Police say when contacted on the phone number provided, the man’s phone was switched off.
He was arrested and charged with three counts of Obtaining Financial Advantage by Deception and will appear in the Lautoka Magistrates Court today.
Police say the second accused is a 27-year-old man charged with allegedly dishonestly obtaining $230 from a victim.
The accused had allegedly created a Viber account pretending to be one of the victim’s friends, asking for money and informing his friend that he was in police custody. Police say after sending the $230 via the M-PaiSA platform, the victim then realized that it was a different person and not his friend, and he reported the matter to the Police.
The 27-year-old man has been charged with one count of Obtaining Financial Advantage by Deception and will appear in the Labasa Magistrates Court today.
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