WHILE six Fiji companies and some individuals have been linked to the leaked “Panama Papers”, the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) says Fiji is not a tax haven country.
FIU director Razim Buksh said the information released by the leaked documents were critical for his office to “build intelligence”.
Mr Buksh said a “team from his office was now analysing the information”.
He said Fiji had stringent anti-money laundering laws and under the Company’s Act, no company could operate with anonymity.
“If there are any breaches or tax evasion, we will refer it to the Fiji Revenue & Customs Authority (FRCA) and the Reserve Bank of Fiji,” Mr Buksh said.
He said with the stringent laws, FIU would easily be able to establish attempts to launder money out of the country.
“In Fiji, banks and law firms cannot hide behind secrecy laws,” Mr Buksh said.
He said Fiji was not in a “danger zone” as far as the leaked “Panama Papers” were concerned.
Mr Buksh said it was important to understand that those companies and individuals whose names appeared in the leaked documents did not necessarily mean that they had done something wrong.
