Two men allegedly involved in taxi permit scams have been charged with obtaining financial advantage by deception on three separate occasions.

In the first case, the Fiji Police MPaisa Task Force arrested a 41-year-old man residing in Narere.

It’s alleged the man dishonestly obtained $260 from a member of the public through a mobile money transfer app in November last year.

The investigation revealed that the victim’s wife received a phone call from the accused, who claimed to be based at the Land Transport Authority’s Lautoka branch.

He called regarding the victim’s taxi permit application and asked for $80 for registration fees and $180 for Town Council fees.

The accused allegedly withdrew the money and then blocked all communication with the victim.

In another case, a 44-year-old man residing in Nabua was charged with dishonestly obtaining $721 from a victim to facilitate the processing of a taxi permit application in August last year.

After receiving the money, the accused ceased all communication with the victim.

In a third case involving the same 44-year-old accused, he allegedly called the victim to inform her that her taxi permit application was in progress. He requested $344 for fees and additional funds for kava on July 19th last year.

The victim sent $360, after which the accused switched off his phone.

Both accused will be produced at the Nasinu Magistrates Court.