Sugar Minister, Charan Jeath Singh

The option of extradition the former Fiji Sugar Corporation CEO Abdul Khan from New Zealand is not off the table.

This was revealed by the Minister for Sugar, Charan Jeath Singh, earlier this week.

Khan has been investigated since 2019 for several allegations, namely financial malfeasance, breaches of the Income Tax Sand Exchange Control Acts, conflicts of interest, and abuse of office while he was the CEO and Executive Chair of FSC.

Singh confirms that he has been discussing Khan’s investigation with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

“I had some discussions with the honourable Prime Minister and the Attorney General, if this case, obviously it’s in black and white, they cannot deny what has gone wrong. If needs be, we will extraditing Mr Khan from New Zealand where he is currently residing to come and face charges on all these dirty dealings.”

Singh has attributed the poor state of affairs at FSC to the self-serving leadership that it was exposed to.

“Today the state of FSC is because the people on the top were not there for the farmers, not there for the industry they were there for themselves.”

The former FSC CEO, Abdul Khan, was forced to resign in 2016 and subsequently became the subject of an investigation that spanned seven years.

Earlier this year, the Sugar Minister revealed that Khan was paid $840,00 per annum while in the position for five years, from 2011 until his resignation.