A man convicted of fraud relating to VAT returns has been sentenced to twenty months imprisonment and a fine of $500 by the Lautoka High Court.

Mohammed Rizwan tried to obtain VAT refund using forged documents filed in the name of one Forzana Zurin Nisha.

He tried the same using the name of one Mohammed Irshad.

The court ruled this was a deliberate attempt to circumvent the VAT return processing system.

None of the victims lost any money as FRCA was able to detect this fraud before the money was released.

Rizwan will serve six months behind bars while the remaining 14 months has been suspended for 3 years.