Over 200 traders are now under investigation for unscrupulous dealings and trying to take advantage of vulnerable Fijians who are already in a financial despair due to the impact of COVID-19.

Over 200 traders are now under investigation for unscrupulous dealings and trying to take advantage of vulnerable Fijians.

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Chief Executive Joel Abraham says 99 percent of these traders are repeat offenders who are not shying away from making profit at the expense of consumers

Abraham says they are looking at filing the charges against 16 other traders who were found to be selling price-controlled items at an excessive price, false and misleading representation of items and failing to display or mark prices.

“As and when we are getting evidence and our legal teams are completing the vetting processes, we can look at the evidence on file and say let’s proceed for prosecution.”

The Commission over the last five weeks has conducted more than 3,700 inspections.