Pawan Deo and wife Subhashni Mudaliar

A couple fronted the Suva Magistrates court this morning for allegedly defrauding the Fiji Rugby Union.

Fiji Rugby Union’s former accountant Pawan Deo and wife Subhashni Mudaliar are charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the FRU, obtaining a gain and obtaining financial advantage.

It’s alleged that Deo being the sole proprietor of Sports Supplies Limited and being FRU’s accountant conspired with his wife and dishonestly obtained $53,788.75 from FRU.

The alleged offence occurred between February 2022 and July the same year.

It’s alleged they fraudulently facilitated payments to SSL and as a result obtained $7,291.83 for the company knowing that it was not eligible to receive the sum.

The two were produced in court late yesterday afternoon and were remanded to produce sureties.

However, this morning the bail hearing was stood down as one of the sureties had failed to bring his identification to court.