PNGi INVESTIGATES
New Vice-Minister for State Negotiations Comes with a Foreboding Past
The newly elected first-time MP, Jimmy Maladina, a man once described by Justice Sakora as the ‘manipulative member’ of a ‘conspiratorial criminal cabal’, has been quickly elevated up the parliamentary ranks by the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Marape recently announced Maladina has been appointed Vice Minister for State Negotiations. It is a role to which Jimmy Maladina could be well...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
UBS loan was an ‘unnecessary disaster’ for PNG and its people
The Commission of Inquiry into the UBS loan has finished but the Commission’s findings, contained in a fifteen volume report, have been locked away, at least for now. The Prime Minister has pledged the report will be presented to Parliament on 19 April and the findings made public after that. In the meantime, an assessment of the facts and the...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Was Peter Graham right to slam PM Marape over Kumul Minerals Board Shake-Up?
...he currently serves as CEO of Metals Refining Operations a gold trading and refining form which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Pacific Balance Fund. Hansel Maven is a business partner of Jimmy Maladina, through the company they co-own, Cam Guard Limited. Jimmy Maladina is one of the nation’s most controversial business figures. With close ties to former PM...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Pruaitch Tribunal Unlikely to Deliver Justice for the People
...a piece of land owned by Maladina that the latter planned to sell on to the NPF for an exorbitant price. In 2005 Veraga was found guilty on six counts of conspiring with Maladina and misappropriation and he was sentenced to six years jail with hard labour. Although the court found Veraga personally received K27,455 while Maladina netted K117,500, and...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
COVID-19 Expenditure: Reporting the Red Flags
PNGi has conducted a preliminary analysis of suppliers selected by the Department of Health to help combat the COVID-19 epidemic. Today we present a shortlist of the companies exhibiting red flags that deserve close audit scrutiny. COVID-19 is a global emergency. In the event of an emergency procurement processes, which ordinarily require public tender and transparent selection processes, are dispensed...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Stunning Claim Jimmy Maladina Administered K42m Extortion Scheme
...report Maladina freely admitted the offence and expressed remorse. Image: Jimmy Maladina, reported to have been PM O’Neill’s chief adviser Maladina nonetheless later appealed his conviction and was successful. One of his alleged co-conspirators was not so lucky and served a substantial custodial sentences. Since 2017 PNGi has covered numerous transactions involving Jimmy Maladina. These include a suspicious land deal,...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Horizon Oil and William Duma Bribery Scandal
Yesterday a scandal broke in the Australian Financial Review (AFR). It is alleged that the Australian listed firm, Horizon Oil, paid US$10.3 million to a Papua New Guinea shell company, with ties to the then Petroleum Minister, William Duma, a claim Duma denies. The scandal begins in 2010. Horizon Oil faced losing valuable gas licenses in PNG, after then Petroleum...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Best of PNGi Central 2019: Your Most Read
...read reports in 2019. 4. Jimmy Maladina and the 2017 Election Mystery Jimmy Maladina’s name has featured in a number of PNGi exposés, in this one we revealed his intriguing role in the 2017 election where he funded and supported a rival candidate in the very seat both he and his brother were contesting. 3. Tasion Group Chief Branded Corrupt...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Philip Eludeme and the third Manumanu Land Scandal
While much has been written and said about the Manumanu land scandal, the grossly inflated sums paid from taxpayer funds to Philip Eludeme, the long serving Chairman of the Central Supply and Tenders Board (CSTB), have been largely overlooked. Yet, Mr Eludeme walked away with a cool K16 million for two parcels of land that he had purchased four years...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Peter ONeill: Son of a Grotesque Political System
...state enterprises and statutory bodies by Prime Minister Bill Skate. The Commissioners claim that under the leadership of O’Neill’s alleged first cousin, Wandi Yamuna, and a close commercial affiliate, Jimmy Maladina, this predatory network employed executive power to defraud the bodies they were entrusted to manage. O’Neill is accused of being a key player and beneficiary of the scams. PNGi...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
The Impunity Top 10
...businesses slammed in 4 Public Accounts Committee, 2 Auditor General and 1 Commission of Inquiry inquiries, for which he suffered zip substantive consequences. Politicians remain more than happy to partake in smiling promotional photos with ‘Gummi’ and promote his business interests. Jimmy Maladina: A controversial entry, after all didn’t the Supreme Court exonerate Jimmy Maladina for his part in the...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Can the PM Defend a Nation he Wants to Own?
...elite. Prominent names include, Donald John Beattie (Partner in the Pacific Legal Group and PM’s long-term associate), Tiong Sii Huang, (involved in at least 20 companies including Amanab Forest Products, Jaya and Berjaya Construction and Vanimo Supermarket), Ian Jepson (Global Construction), Hao Zhong Luo (China Jiangsu and Jimmy Maladina’s benefactor), Jin So Poh (construction and retail interests and a director...
THE COURT REPORT
Jimmy Maladina and the 2017 Election Mystery
...the Esa’ala Open seat, Jimmy Maladina. Maladina it appeared had paid the airfares of two key witnesses in the case, Mr Polana Lepani and Mr Joe Bentily Bwan. Under cross-examination Mr Bwan also alleged that ‘Mr Maladina had funded Mr Toweba’s campaign’. This led Judge Higgins to conclude that ‘if it is true [it] leads me to believe that the...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
The Jimmy Maladina Scandal You Didnt See!
Jimmy Maladina is one of the country’s most influential figures. He is said to be the Prime Minister’s ‘Chief Adviser’, and stands over a vast business empire. Maladina was also at the centre of one of the country’s most epic scandals forensically documented by the Commission of Inquiry into the National Provident Fund (NPF). A pre-sentence report cited in a...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
The K2.65 million question: Jimmy Maladina and Meck Luo
...period. While Maladina evidently confessed to the fraud, and paid K2.65 million in restitution, his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court, again due to a lack of evidence. Maladina has now seemingly bounced back. He is alleged to be Prime Minister O’Neill’s ‘chief adviser’. O’Neill was another high profile individual in the NPF Commission of Inquiry crosshairs. Maladina has...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
AGO: Australian Rorts K13 million from Defence Budget
...track record, and a senior civil servant. Set out below are key examples. Name Direct affiliate One degree of separation Biographical notes Belden Namah X Politician + Former Deputy PM Philip Eludeme X X CSTB Chair + Censured by CoI Jimmy Maladina X Businessman + Censured by CoI Theo Constantinou X Australian businessman Wandi Yamuna X Alleged cousin of Peter...
POWER PROFILES
Fabian Pok: Leadership Tribunal Material
...extensive evidentiary inquiry, the commission claimed Dr Pok received bribes in return for making illicit directives as Lands Minister that benefited Jimmy Maladina and the RH Group. Condemned by the Commission of Inquiry into the Investment Corporation of PNG for a series of illegal orders. One of these directives benefited Port Moresby First National Real Estate Limited. The latter company...
POWER PROFILES
Chris Haiveta: A Slippery Fish?
UPDATE: A new endnote was added to this report on 20 October 2020. Sandline International – a British mercenary firm – planned to use heat seeking missiles and other heavy-duty armaments on Bougainville. It would almost certainly have been a bloodbath, with major civilian casualties. So a mine could be reopened. Only unprecedented social mobilisation by the people, and a...
POWER PROFILES
Michael Nali Part 2: Friends, Allies and Business
This is the second of three reports profiling one of Papua New Guinea’s longest serving politicians and businessmen, Michael Nali. Nali is currently the Minister for Works and Implementation in the government of Peter O’Neill. In Part 1, PNGi highlighted the conflict of interest surrounding Michael Nali’s involvement in the controversial Paga Hill real estate development in Port Moresby. It...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
The Midas Touch: Part 3
In tandem with his political career, Peter O’Neill has built an extensive business empire with interests in almost every sector of the economy and assets worth many hundreds of millions of Kina. The Midas Touch is an in-depth investigation by PNGi into the Prime Minister’s business empire and how it has been interwoven with his political career. The Midas Touch...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
The Midas Touch: Part 2
In tandem with his political career, Peter O’Neill has built an extensive business empire with interests in almost every sector of the economy and assets worth many hundreds of millions of Kina. The Midas Touch is an in-depth investigation by PNGi into the Prime Minister’s business empire and how it has been interwoven with his political career. The Midas Touch...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
The Midas Touch: Part 1
In tandem with his political career, Peter O’Neill has built an extensive business empire with interests in almost every sector of the economy and assets worth many hundreds of millions of Kina. The Midas Touch is an in-depth investigation by PNGi into the Prime Minister’s business empire and how it has been interwoven with his political career. The Midas Touch...
POWER PROFILES
Nathaniel Poya
Nathaniel Poya is now in his second term as Chairman of the PNG Ports Corporation, yet his career has not all been plain sailing. A Commission of Inquiry has alleged Poya personally benefited from fraud while serving as a trustee; a K70 million company he owned was liquidated drawing the ire of a National Court judge for its failure to...
THE COURT REPORT
The State -v- Iori Veraga
On the 2nd of June, 2005, Iori Veraga was convicted of two counts of Conspiracy and four counts of Misappropriation, details listed below. According to the charges Veraga’s co-conspirators were Jimmy Maladina, Henry Fabila and Herman James Leahy and the offences took place between the 1st of September, 1998 and 28th of February, 1999. The case is one of very...