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George Speight's Coup in Fiji and White-Collar Crime in Queensland1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Anthony van Fossen
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Extract

The dangerous uncertainties and complications of George Speight's coup in Fiji have been partly formed by his association with white-collar crime in Queensland. Speight's involvement in at least one fraudulent financial scheme in Brisbane helped to shape the events leading up to his seizure of parliament and kidnapping of the elected government of Fiji on 19 May 2000. This parody ofa coup, led by Speight (a failed businessman with no military experience) and a small contingent of ascetic SAS-styled soldiers, soon to be joined by a gaggle of rustics and Suva's lumpenproletariat, was a spectacle of the unexpected. Speight's adventurism today imposes immense costs on the people of Fiji. His financial schemes when he was living in Brisbane left a number of victims in Queensland.

Type
Research Article
Information
Queensland Review , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , August 2000 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 

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