THE COURT REPORT
Anti-corruption crusader guilty of misconduct in office
...under pressure from Mr Kramer, to give clearance for the arrest of Peter O’Neill. The Tribunal considered ‘this piece of evidence by Mr Nii as grossly exaggerated and unsubstantiated’. The Tribunal did find as a fact that both former Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill and Mr Kramer, as Police Minister had political interfered in the operational matters of the police force....
PNGi INVESTIGATES
New Vice-Minister for State Negotiations Comes with a Foreboding Past
...is especially so, given that the China Railway / Waigani Court Complex case is not the only example on the public record of Jimmy Maladina earning substantial fees for arranging State contracts. UBS – another handsome payoff The now infamous UBS loan, taken out by the government of Peter O’Neill to fund the purchase of shares in Oil Search Limited,...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Allegations of Serious Mismanagement at Kumul Agriculture
...and sabotage the long delay of the board meeting for reasons of their own”. The Chairman does not state what these “ends” are. However, the board’s perception of these motivations become clearer throughout the meeting as the two main allegations are levied against Sabumei. Peter Moorower, as well as “other directors”, reportedly share the sentiment “that there were many high-level...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
UBS loan was an ‘unnecessary disaster’ for PNG and its people
...loan monies were used for. Despite his denials, the lawyers say it is clear Peter O’Neill knew and intended that the monies that he arbitrarily decided the State should borrow from UBS (in what was a one-sided and unfair deal), would end upon the hands of Mr Civelli, a man that Peter O’Neill had met and had private discussions with...
THE COURT REPORT
Policemen Jailed for Preventing Prime Minister O’Neill’s Arrest
Three career police officers are currently languishing in Bomana prison, locked up by the courts for the role they played in protecting the then Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, from arrest in 2014 over allegations he personally authorised the payment of K71 million by the State to Paraka lawyers. While ultimately O’Neill successfully dodged the Paraka scandal by disbanding his own...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Red flagged company wins new Duran Farm contract
...Justin Tkatchenko’s promise to clean up his Department and reinvigorate the defunct Duran Farm housing project. In 2014, the O’Neill government promised Duran Farm would deliver a modern housing estate with 40,000 reasonably priced homes for low and middle-income earners by 2020. At it’s launch the Duran Farm housing project promised 40,000 homes for low and middle-income earners The Duran...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
UBS Bank, a global serial offender, overcharged PNG A$175 million report claims
...to the taxpayer amounted to around K1 billion. According to an Ombudsman Commission report, which was delayed for three-years by legal action by Peter O’Neill, the initial deal was arbitrarily cooked up by Peter O’Neill and Oil Search Managing Director Peter Botten in a cosy meeting at the Grand Papua Hotel in February 2014. To fund the purchase, the national...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Yama fails in latest bid to quash criminal charges
It is a familiar story, one that PNGi has reported on numerous times before. The nation’s elite politicians and businessmen using their wealth and position to mount numerous legal challenges to delay criminal charges or civil sanction. Peter O’Neill, Paul Paraka, Patrick Pruaitch and many more are all adept at manipulating the system to retain their positions of power, and...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Landowner funds flushed down broken corporate pipes
...Queental Limited a shell company with one asset at the time the purchase was made, K15 million in land. Former Queental Limited shareholders include then Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, a fact covered in a previous PNGi story. The Petroleum Resources Kutubu Board issued a heated response to that PNGi investigation. A media release purported to be from Petroleum Resources Kutubu’s...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Conservation area invaded by logging company
...intervene in support of the landowners. Logs from the Kimadi Conservation area being removed for export. Woodbank Pacific Limited is owned by Malaysian national Tiong Sii Huang. Huang has extensive business interests in PNG and is a business associate of former Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, having served on the Board of one of his companies, Paradise Breweries Limited, from 2018-2019....
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Landowner Funds Mismanaged on a Grand Scale: Gobe Petroleum Part 2
...pointed out that the MRDC Chairman at the time was the Prime Minister’s own Chief Secretary, Isaac Lupari, and that the MRDC reported directly to the Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill. Also, said Pruaitch, the Ombudsman Commission should investigate the circumstances that led to the absence of government lawyers to defend the case ‘especially since the Office of the Auditor General...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Revealed – The Two MPs Tied to Abuse of Office Scandal
...was allegedly signed off by then Works Minister, Peter O’Neill. O’Neill would later go on to appoint Kuman Minister for Education. But this is not a case noteworthy purely because of the criminal behaviour exhibited by a senior civil servant. Also deserving of mention are Works Department officials who attempted to call out this behaviour at great personal and professional...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Australian Aristocrats and Sir Ted Diro at the Centre of ‘Massive Fraud’ Allegations
...this series of failed ventures, in 1996 Sir Joh and Lord Peter promoted a line of hovercrafts that could shoot like a bullet across water at 250 km/h, five metres above ground. Sir Joh and Lord Peter soon abandoned the project after it became embroiled in bitter litigation. Image: Sir Joh and Lord Peter promised lightening fast sea travel In...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Is Ihu SEZ a new honey pot for rent seekers and profiteers?
...labour laws, all of which is designed to attract major investments. The project is led by Peter KenGemar, a geologist and a business partner of Mozammil Gulam Abbas Bhojani who was recently convicted in Australia over a conspiracy to bribe local officials in Nauru. There is no suggestion KenGemar was implicated in this conspiracy. This comes against a wider backdrop...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
O’Neill Linked to Irregular Land Deal Uncovered by Deloitte
...Peter O’Neill was a shareholder in Queental Limited via his holding vehicle LBJ Investments, it is a matter that must in all justice be investigated by authorities to ensure this deal was in full compliance with the law and leadership code. PNGi reached out to LBJ Investments, Queental Limited, and MRDC for comment on this irregular transaction. No response was...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
‘Too good to be true’: the deal with an Isis-linked Australian family that betrayed PNG’s most marginalised
...in particular. As the Elomar brothers faced the prospect of commercial collapse in Australia, PNGSDP was concerned that Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, Peter O’Neill, could be preparing to expropriate the program’s assets, including Cloudy Bay. The PNG government had appointed a controversial accountant, Rex Paki, to the boards of PNGSDP and Cloudy Bay, of which he was chairman. In...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Marape resurrects defunct Konebada statutory body mired in fraud allegations
What would you do as the Prime Minister – upon assuming the captain’s seat you discover a statutory authority mired in mismanagement, lavish spending, tax evasion, fraud and potentially misappropriation, all of which has cost the public over K13 million. Added to that, it is a statutory authority whose actions were so unsightly even the O’Neill government found it beyond...
THE COURT REPORT
Duma Bid to Block Discovery in Australian Defamation Case Fails
...owned by a close associate of the then Petroleum Minister William Duma, shortly after the company was granted a lucrative petroleum license. Duma initiated a defamation action in response. Duma contends that the AFR article implies he received a bribe as a Minister in the O’Neill government. He claims this statement is false. To support his argument, Duma has acknowledged...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Sand mining plans littered with red flags
...Marcus Ong with James Marape, Derrick and Marcus Ong with Peter O’Neill, Derrick Ong alongside Rimbink Pato, Derrick and Marcus with Mera Wori, Derrick and Marcus with Michael Ogio, Derrick and Patrick Basa, Derrick and Johnson Tuke. MRA will surely be treading very carefully to ensure none of these political connections sway its decision making processes in respect of Niugini...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
MRA accused of steamrolling sand mining approval
...and whether it could lead to communities being displaced. The communities concerns are shared by the Madang tourism industry. Their association chairman and former government Minister, Peter Barter, says the industry is worried about the possible environmental impacts. Although Niugini Sands’ advertised website (www.theniugini.com) does not appear to be functioning, the company has recently created a Facebook page where it...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Was Peter Graham right to slam PM Marape over Kumul Minerals Board Shake-Up?
...Peter O’Neill, he is a frequent topic on the pages of PNGi over irregular business deals, and censure from government oversight agencies. Finally there is the lawyer Bonny Ninai. Ninai first gained public notoriety when he acted as the lawyer for then Prime Minister Bill Skate during the Sandline inquiry. Ninai attracted controversy in 2011 when he was reported to...
THE COURT REPORT
New Scandal Engulfs Embattled Foreign Minister Patrick Pruaitch
...to K1,240,000 At the time Pruaitch had just left the forestry portfolio to become Treasurer in the O’Neill Government. To secure the overdraft facility for Pruaitch, Kina Bank alleges that a third party, Karridale Limited, offered as security, State Lease, Allotment 7, Section 55, Boroko. Additionally it is claimed Karridale’s director and majority shareholder, a Malaysian national, Danny Chiu Chuan...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
COVID-19 Spending Alert
...revealed to be NKW Holdings. Baker notes, NKW Holdings ‘was on Bank South Pacific’s “watchlist” for unpaid debts at the time it was engaged by [Australia’s] Home Affairs [Department]’. Baker continues, ‘its directors include provincial government officials and retired PNG Supreme Court judge Don Sawong, who in 2017 unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s political party’....
THE TOKAUT BLOG
The Untouchables: Yama Family Deja Vu
...convicted and sentenced to nine-months imprisonment. The courts have ordered steps be taken to correct this egregious injustice. However, it is now three-years since the 2017 election and Peter Yama has yet to face court. This is not though an isolated case. Peter Yama appears to have evaded police investigation and prosecution on a number of occasions. PNGi can also...