THE TOKAUT BLOG
PM Marape please clean up the National Housing Corporation
...National Court, and Auditor General, under the stewardship of John Dege (Managing Director), and Paul Isikiel (Housing Minister), NHC funds were routinely abused. Video: Small mercies, Dege failed in his 2017 bid for parliament on a People’s National Congress ticket Perhaps fittingly during the last gasps of the O’Neill regime, to the dismay of many, Magistrate Cosmas Bidar decided to...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Australia salutes PNG’s endemic corruption
...boats will, it is claimed, ‘significantly strengthen security in the region’. Dignitaries including Australian Federal Minister for Defence, Christopher Pyne, Minister for Defence Industry Steven Ciobo, WA Minister Paul Papalia, and Senator Lynda Reynolds, pose in front on HMPNGS Ted Diro in November 2018. Compounding matters, an indecent scrummage of senior Australian politicians turned up for a photo in front...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
False Customs Declarations Underpin Illegal Cigarette Trade
...yet to issue any infringement notices against Goldensborough Limited or impound its two containers. It will be recalled that after the police and immigration raids against Goldensborough last month, its was Customs Commissioner Ray Paul who called a press conference to publicly defend the company, describing it as a legitimate business that pays its taxes. Mr Paul should now make...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Smoke and mirrors in cigarette wars
...had confirmed the Goldensborough cigarette factory at Eight-Mile was a licensed business and had evidently been operating legally as a cigarette importer for eight years According to Paul, Goldensborough had recently moved into manufacturing and had been given a customs licence. Paul described Goldensborough as a ‘legitimate firm’, ‘they pay tax and employ nationals’. Indeed, when media revisited the factory...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
William Duma and the Manu Manu Land Scandal: The Full Story
The Manu Manu land scandal rocked the nation back in 2017. In response to the public outcry an Administrative Inquiry was launched at a cost of K2 million to taxpayers. While the inquiry report was tabled in Parliament on 13 April 2018, the public were denied copies of a report which they had paid for. Then, a month ago, it...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Global Fund program infected by health sector corruption
...as one example, the case of Mr Paul Dopsie, but there are many others that also illustrate the point. In November 2017, a special audit team from the Prime Minister’s Department investigated the procurement and distribution of medical drugs and other health supplies managed by the NDoH. The auditors found what they described as widespread failures throughout the medical supply...
THE COURT REPORT
Political Donations and Misappropriation
...Tracey Tiran was found guilty of misappropriating and dishonestly applying to her own use K500,000 belonging ultimately to the people of Papua New Guinea, through their government. The court found the accused, together with Minister Paul Tiensten, who is already serving two heavy sentences for misappropriation, and the convicted criminal Chris Halupe set up a scam in 2011 to obtain...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Facebook Witch-Hunt Deeply Sinister
...research* by Paul Flanagan and Luke Fletcher revealed that policy failures and corruption had ensured the massive PNG LNG project incredibly produced a net negative impact on PNG. The Prime Minister labelled this ‘fake news’. Under the impending Facebook witch-hunt presumably this research is the very type of ‘criminal’ activity which the Communications Minister, Sam Basil, is trying to ‘protect’...
THE COURT REPORT
Stealing the Public Wealth: Ghost Contracts
...fraud, such as transfer pricing and the fraudulent reduction in the price of public assets such as state land. Crime pays, how elites seize the national wealth A case in point is The State v Paul Guli, Gogumi Kimin and Andrew Kama Alake [2017] N6839. On 14 August 2017, Paul Guli, Gogumi Kimin and Andrew Kama Alake were convicted...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Prisoner Release Scandal Requires Public Inquiry
...custodial sentence outside prison: Eremas Wartoto, misappropriation of K6 million. Arua Maraga Hariki, two counts of wilful murder. Paul Pisa, rape of a 14 year old girl Jeffery Yokopia, uknown. Philip Kikala, misappropriation of K1 million. Paul Tiensten, misappropriation of K10 mllion Dr Theo Yasause, murder. Chief superintendent Haraha Kiddy Keko claims ‘that of the seven prisoners, all except Mr...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Medical kit distribution highlights failure to reform
...against Paul Dopsie, an Executive Manager in the Department of Health. Global has alleged that between 2014 and 2016, Mr Dopsie demanded and received over K265,000 in ‘facilitation payments’ to secure the release of payments under their medical kit distribution contract. Global also claimed they were later persuaded not to pursue their allegations against Dopsie on the promise their contract...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
The Wartoto crime spree remembered
...Air Ltd. The business name, Travel Air, was registered on 8 September 2010. However, the company, Travel Air Ltd, was incorporated on 15 June 2011. It was Taskforce Sweep’s claim that K10 million was fraudulently released by Mr Paul Tiensten (National Planning Minister 2007-2011) to Travel Air, before it was incorporated under the Companies Act 1997. The case proceeded to...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
National Housing Corporation: Still Rotten
...[Francis] Pumbu at a time when Mr [Paul] Asakusa was managing director. The NHC sought declarations and orders that would nullify the transfer to Mr Pumbu, claiming fraud and illegality in the transfer to him and breaches by Mr Asakusa of fiduciary and legal duties to the NHC which allegedly amounted to a conspiracy between him and Mr Pumbu to...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Govt stalling on medicine reform as death toll rises
...During the course of the audit, the team picked up a correspondence containing complains constituting an official corruption nature lodged with Health Secretary, Mr. Pascoe Kase against Mr. Paul Dopsie-Executive Manager Corporate Services. The letter dated 07 February 2017 outlining the allegations was sent to Health Secretary and Audit confirmed that it was received by Secretary’s Office on 7th February...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
National Museum Chaos
Leaked documents obtained by PNGi indicate that the National Museum and Art Gallery – the statutory custodian for priceless cultural artefacts – is in an ongoing state of disarray. It can be revealed that there has been a failure to appoint a permanent Director for over a year. This parlous state of affairs has been facilitated through numerous illegal directives...
THE COURT REPORT
Yama loses over K22m in one day
...and entirely separate matter, in April 2016, Justice Sakora was arrested and charged with corruption. His arrest was in relation to an injunction granted to controversial lawyer, Paul Paraka, suppressing the publication of the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the Department of Finance. It is a charge Sakora denies. Also in an unrelated matter, Justice Sakora is currently...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Wheels of justice turn slowly for Philip Siaguru
...the government purse and depriving basic services of vital funding. While there have been some heartening instances of high-profile public figures being brought to justice in recent times, Eremas Wartoto and Paul Tiensten are obvious examples, these cases are all too few and far between and represent nothing but a tiny needle in a giant haystack. There are still far...
POWER PROFILES
Joseph Lelang
...same judge went further and accused Lelang of having lied in giving evidence against Wartoto and recommended Lelang be prosecuted. 450 451 452 453 454 5 https://d6mljhs7208w9.cloudfront.net/uploads/2017/07/449-company-profiles.zip State v Paul Tiensten (2013) State v Tiensten In November 2013, former Minister for National Planing and Monitoring, Paul Tiensten was found guilty of dishonestly applying K10 million belong to the State to...
THE COURT REPORT
The State -v- Iori Veraga
...were K18,500, which was significantly less than the K175,000 as charged by Veraga. The second valuer was Mr Paul Ikupu, who was the President of the PNG Institute of Valuers and Land Administrators in 1980s. Ikupu provided a valuation of the Deloittes Tower as per the instruction by Mr Rod Mitchell (who was the new CEO of NPF). Ikupu was...
THE COURT REPORT
The State -v- Achilles James Peni
...payment voucher, as were some of his associates. They had allegedly been threatened by the Office of Fidelis Semoso. The Provincial Treasurer, Paul Amera, was also verbally threatened by MP Semoso after refusing to pay the K2.7 million to Millennium Water Ltd. Peni was found guilty of misappropriation after dishonestly using property belonging to another. Read the full Court Judgement....
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Elite network behind Paga Hill Estate
...Directors, Paul Wagun. It was a Paul Wagun who replaced Gomoga Jack Nouairi as Public Curator, and submitted evidence to the Public Accounts Committee and Taskforce Sweep contesting any wrongdoing by his office or Anvil (PNG) Project Services Limited. It cannot be confirmed this is the same Paul Wagun, however, given Jac’o Consultant’s role in the Public Curator’s Office, the...