A GRACE Road Church member who escaped from True Mart in Navua has called out Fiji Immigration Department officials who were allegedly “paid off to look the other way” while her husband and children left the country.
Speaking to this newspaper she said her four-year-old daughter was not a Fiji citizen but was given an emergency Fijian passport while her husband was allowed to leave the country even though his visa expired years back.
“Someone in Fiji Immigration was paid off to look the other way while the father illegally and internationally kidnapped two innocent children (age four and 13),” she said.
“I’m also sure that he has outstanding fines because he’d overstayed the visa he used to come to Fiji. Surely, that would have been a red flag or at least he had to pay all those fines.”
The woman claimed her husband had somehow gotten a one-day passport for their daughter who hasn’t been registered since birth.
“Somehow, she miraculously got a Fijian passport in literally one day and they flew out,” she added.
She claimed her husband was financially incapable of paying for his travel with their children as he was only working as a purchasing officer for the organisation’s restaurants and shops situated within the Suva area.
“Like the rest of us, he also doesn’t get paid and he doesn’t have any money, so obviously he didn’t do this on his own accord.
“I know he was guided every step of the way because I’ve personally seen this before with my own eyes with people who’ve left Grace Road. Their family members who are still with the church get told or dictated what to do, where to go, what to say and what not to say.
“Somehow, my daughter (previously unregistered in Fiji for her entire four years of existence) was given an emergency Fijian passport and along with my son and their father (a Korean national who had a long-expired Fiji visa) were allowed to leave the country without my permission or even knowledge, two days prior.”
The Korean American national has vowed to continue to fight to get her children back “to the normal life”.
Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Pio Tikoduadua had released a statement, saying he had written to the Prime Minister offering to step aside from his position as investigations are conducted into the unauthorised issuance of passports to the two children.
He said the passports appeared to have been issued without his knowledge or the approval of Immigration permanent secretary Mason Smith and without any authorisation from senior management within the Department of Immigration.
“If confirmed, this constitutes a significant breach of our protocols and raises serious concerns about the internal oversight mechanisms within the department,” Mr Tikoduadua said.
Acting Police Commissioner Jukie Chew Fong has directed Assistant Commissioner-Crime Mesake Waqa to “conduct a preliminary investigation to further determine whether the Fiji Police Force or Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption will lead the investigation” into the case.
Questions sent to Grace Road Group remained unanswered when this story went to press.
