Following the circulation of a letter dated 13th April this year and signed off by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service CEO that taxpayer, Dick Peng's Stop Departure Order be revoked, the FRCS has released a statement stating that the revocation of the original Departure Prohibition Order was followed by the immediate issuance of a new order.
It says on 26th March 2026, FRCS issued a Departure Prohibition Order under Section 31 of the Tax Administration Act 2009 in relation to Company A and transmitted the order to the Department of Immigration for implementation within the Integrated Border Management System.
FRCS says following further compliance activities and legal review, they prepared and signed, on 13th April 2026, a revised suite of Departure Prohibition Order documents to administratively transition the DPO from Company A to Company B through the simultaneous revocation of the original DPO and the immediate issuance of a new DPO.
It adds this administrative transition ensured that the DPO remained legally valid, active, and enforceable under the correct legal entity.
FRCS says on 14th April 2026 at 9:57am, they transmitted the revised DPO documentation to the Department of Immigration for implementation.
They say at 11am, the Department of Immigration confirmed in writing that the revised DPO had "been actioned."
Further confirmation was received at 11:35am that the revised Departure Prohibition Order relating to Company B had been successfully activated within the immigration system.
FRCS says at approximately 2pm on the same day (14th April), the taxpayer was personally served with the revised Departure Prohibition Order and acknowledged receipt by signing the notice.
They say despite these actions, the taxpayer departed Fiji at 11.55pm that evening.
FRCS reiterates that at all times, according to the documentation issued by FRCS to the Ministry of Immigration, an active Departure Prohibition Order was always in place.
FRCS has requested the Department of Immigration to undertake a comprehensive review of the matter, including a full audit trail of all actions undertaken within the Integrated Border Management System, to establish the sequence of events and determine how the taxpayer was able to depart despite the existence of a valid Departure Prohibition Order.
It says as this matter is currently the under active investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further until the investigation is complete.
As investigations continue into how the naturalized Fijian citizen who alleged to have defrauded $20 million in tax left the country despite a Stop Departure Order against him, FRCS Service CEO Udit Singh had earlier confirmed that they did not remove the order.
While speaking to fijivillage News, Singh said they were alerted about the case as soon as they put the Tax Crimes Task Force into place about a month and a half ago.
Singh confirmed the taxpayer left the country after the Stop Departure Order was issued.
He says they have handed over the file, and FICAC and the Police Criminal Investigations Department are looking into it.
Minister for Immigration, Viliame Naupoto says FICAC is investigating the matter and he is awaiting the outcome of that.
Stay with us for developments.
