News
High Court Restrains Property Transfer and Freezes Bank Account
Posted by Media Team 02 July 2026
The Suva High Court has granted the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) restraining orders preventing the transfer of a property valued at approximately $3.6 million and freezing more than $1.3 million held in a bank account.
The Court found there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the funds represent proceeds from the sale of tainted property linked to alleged criminal offending currently under investigation by FICAC.
Acting Puisne Judge Justice Penijamini Lomaloma granted FICAC's application for the restraining order.
The property is owned by former Chairman and Interim Director of the Higher Education Commission, Mr Stephen Chand, who is the First Respondent in the proceedings.
In his Lordship’s Ex Tempore Ruling, delivered on 26 June 2026, Justice Lomaloma held that FICAC had met the required legal threshold by establishing reasonable grounds to suspect that the properties were tainted.
His Lordship further found that there was evidence of the alleged offences involving Mr Chand and a sufficient link between the property and the alleged offending.
Justice Lomaloma also considered FICAC's application to freeze the Respondents' bank account after being informed that the tainted property had been sold and that the proceeds of the sale were first deposited into the First Respondent's Bred Bank account before being subsequently transferred to the Bred Bank account of the Second Respondent, Ms Raijieli Chand, Mr Chand’s wife.
The Court found reasonable grounds to believe that part of the sale proceeds had been deposited into Mr Chand's Bred Bank account on 19 May 2026.
The Court further noted that $1.3 million was subsequently withdrawn from that account on 25 May 2026 and deposited into Ms Chand’s Bred Bank account
The Court ordered the Registrar of Titles to refrain from registering the transfer of the property and not to register any further dealings with the property until further Orders of the Court.
It also directed Bred Bank to immediately freeze the Second Respondent's bank account and provide FICAC with the relevant bank statements from 19 May 2026.
The Respondents have been granted leave to appeal within 21 days.
