ALLEGATIONS of financial mismanagement and abuse have prompted a special general meeting of the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry today.
Making the claims is chamber secretary Shalendra Prasad who called for the resignation of longtime president Dr Ram Raju and members of the chamber’s council.
Mr Prasad claimed that for four years the chamber had not conducted an AGM and that funds were abused by the secretariat between 2021 and 2024.
He made the claims in an email to Dr Raju and NCCI members while seeking legal advice and calling for the special general meeting.
“It is now clearly evident that your staff who managed the chamber affairs for four years from 2021 to 2024 were involved in the mismanagement of cash and for not keeping all proper records and deliberately misplacing the current receipt books and deposit books, and you blindly allowed him to do so by equally partaking in these actions,” Mr Prasad said in the email.
“When I asked that particular staff of yours as to what happened to all the cash income from the various business forums organised by NCCI and via cash paid by members for memberships renewal, there were no records of cash transactions and the amount of cash received by NCCI from 2021 to November 25th of 2024.”
Mr Prasad also questioned Dr Raju’s re-election during the chamber’s 2025 AGM.
Dr Raju, who has held the position for over a decade, later issued a rebuttal to the claims, which he labeled as “defamatory, derogatory remarks, and outright libel.”
“It is with profound disappointment and deep sadness that I address the recent letter, which has been widely circulated, including to members of the media.
“This letter has, for the first time, exposed fabricated rifts and differences within our esteemed organisation, differences that I unequivocally state were entirely created and propagated by Shalend, our Secretary,” Dr Raju stated.
“Shalend’s utterances, unprofessional conduct, and frankly, childish behaviour over the past couple of weeks have been a source of major concern, utterly unbecoming of a Secretary of an august body such as ours.
“It is crucial to highlight that he was present at the last Annual General Meeting, and up until these recent incidents, all matters appeared to be entirely satisfactory to him. Had there been any genuinely pressing issues, the appropriate and professional course of action would have been to first call a board meeting to formally raise and discuss his concerns. His failure to do so speaks volumes about his intentions.
“Let me be unequivocally clear: all statements and accusations made against me in the aforementioned letter are demonstrably false, utterly baseless, and profoundly tasteless.”
The special AGM to address the allegations was scheduled for 6pm yesterday in Nadi.
Note: This article was first published on the print version of the Fiji Times dated June 13, 2025
