Former Fiji national squash representative Justin Ho has received a suspended sentence from the Magistrate’s Court in Nadi. In a recent update from FICAC, it was reported that Ho pleaded guilty to an amended charge of presenting a false or misleading document on September 10, 2020.
According to the prosecution’s summary of facts regarding the amended charge, Ho provided two Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) for private individuals to senior customs officers to secure the release of a consignment, fully aware that the information was false.
During the court proceedings, part of Ho’s defense highlighted that he had only been instructed to pick up the consignment. Magistrate Talei Kean emphasized that ignorance of the law is not an excuse for unlawful actions.
Initially, Ho was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment, but this was reduced to nine months due to mitigating circumstances and his guilty plea. The court subsequently suspended the sentence for three years. In opting for the suspension, the court took into account that Ho was a first-time offender with a previously clean record, his age at the time the case began, and the fact that no loss was incurred by the government entity involved, deeming that a custodial sentence was unnecessary for deterrence.