SEARCH RESULTS
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Peter O’Neill blocked UBS investigation for three years
Former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says he welcomes the announcement of a full Commission of Inquiry into the UBS loan scandal and that he will be the first to testify. That is excellent news. It is just a shame O’Neill was not so cooperative with the Ombudsman Commission investigation that has taken five-years to complete. Rather than assisting with that...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
UBS, Oil Search and the Forgotten Middle Men – The Short Version
In February 2014, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill committed the State to a disastrous purchase of a 10% stake in Oil Search Limited. That purchase was funded unlawfully says the country’s chief corruption watchdog, through a financially onerous loan from the Swiss-based banking group UBS. Much has been written about the folly of the share purchase and the loan, the losses...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
UBS, Oil Search and the Forgotten Middle Men
In February 2014 the Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, committed the State to a financially disastrous purchase of a 10% stake in the publicly listed company Oil Search Limited. That purchase was funded unlawfully says the country’s chief corruption watchdog, through a financially onerous loan from the Swiss-based banking group UBS. Much has been written about the folly of those two...
THE COURT REPORT
Marape Removed NHEL Management Now He Should Investigate Them
In late 2017 James Marape MP, along with John Kaupa MP, made the decision as trustee shareholders to close down the National Housing Estate Limited (NHEL), and terminate its senior management, including CEO Kevin Ahipum. NHEL had been set up by the national government as a real-estate arm of the National Housing Corporation (the National Housing Corporation is a statutory...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Are UBS and Oil Search Really Whiter than White?
In 2014, the national government borrowed A$1.2 billion from the Swiss banking group UBS in order to make a financially disastrous investment in the stock of Oil Search Limited. PNG’s top corruption watchdog has released a report that finds the loan deal was unlawful. According to the Ombudsman Commission as many as fifteen different laws were broken by the then...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Eastern Highlands Grandee Smith-Kela Implicated in Trust Account Plunder
It began in 2008 with K7.4 million in unexpended funds. The public money should have been returned to consolidated revenue by the East Highlands Provincial Government. Instead, it was taken off the grid. According to the Ombudsman Commission, the Eastern Highlands Provincial Government illegally set up a trust account, aided by Cathy Ali, Acting First Secretary in the Department of...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
PM Marape please clean up the National Housing Corporation
James Marape is the new Prime Minister. He takes the reigns of a government decimated by corruption. The entire policy and administrative apparatus is disoriented by years of graft. Marape promises to make PNG a wealthy and vibrant nation. But a body full of parasites can never be nourished, no matter how much it eats. The nation has eaten its...
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 COURT REPORT
Scandal Prone Gummi Fridriksson Back in Court
The Iceland-Australian businessmen Gudmundur “Gummi” Fridriksson is synonymous with controversy dating back to 1996. Back then he was eviscerated by Sean Dorney over an inflated public contract to produce the book Destination PNG. Dorney claims the deal was secured illegally and the book was riddled with errors. Since then Fridriksson has the unenviable distinction of running businesses censured in four...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Peter ONeill: Son of a Grotesque Political System
Peter O’Neill faces arguably the biggest challenge to his Prime Ministership since 2011, as opposition numbers swell and a vote of no confidence looms. Whatever the outcome, it is easy to get swept up in the political rhetoric now proclaiming PM O’Neill is an aberration who has led the nation’s political system astray. And, so the argument goes, the opposition...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
PNG Public Service Going Private
Papua New Guinea’s public health service is so dysfunctional, underfunded and corrupt the government has come with a plan that has experts calling foul. It is proposed that public servants will be forced to pay for private health cover, using a single monopoly provider, i.e. no competition allowed and no consumer choice permitted. That provider will be a foreign owned...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Konebada Petroleum Park CEO Misappropriated K10m Leak Claims
PNGi has received National Executive Council (NEC) briefing papers that allege ongoing misdealings within the defunct Konebada Petroleum Park Authority (KPPA), which has been the subject of several exposes published on this platform. The leaked NEC documents claim that KPPA holds billions in assets belonging to the PNG public. This treasure chest has been managed by KPPA’s CEO Donald Valu...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
The Impunity Top 10
The Oxford english dictionary defines impunity as: ‘Exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action’. Over the last two years PNGi has published dozens of investigations where high profile individuals in government and business appear to escape injurious consequences for actions documented in formal inquiries, and court proceedings. So today we publish our impunity top 10....
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Condemned SABL used for eviction application
In 2013, a Commission of Inquiry described an agricultural lease issued over 450 hectares of land outside Port Moresby as ‘improper and unlawful’. The lease over portion 2465C, said the Commission, was one of a pair issued in a scheme that involved ‘misrepresentation and fraud’ and a ‘blatant disregard for the law’. The Commission said those responsible for issuing the...
THE COURT REPORT
Church the victim of land fraud
Cases of land fraud are all to common in Papua New Guinea. Often they carry the heavy stench of political corruption and usually it is the State, and particularly the Department of Lands or the National Housing Corporation who are at the centre. A recent case, before the National Court in Madang, was unusual therefore for the fact the fraud...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Solomon Islands Paradise Destroyed by Plunder
By its own government’s estimation natural forests in the Solomon Islands could be completely exhausted by 2036. [1] When it comes to the exploitation of forests and mineral resources, the Solomon Islands is PNG on steroids. It is a window into our future if we fail to stop rule by mobocracy. Plunder, environment destruction, and corruption, these are the familiar...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Australia salutes PNG’s endemic corruption
The Australian government frequently lectures PNG on its corruption record. Australia presents itself as the clean neighbour, prepared to mentor PNG onto the straight and narrow. They talk the talk, but do they walk the walk? The Manus Island detention centre scandal strongly suggests no. It put a spotlight on a series of highly suspect Australian government contracts awarded to...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Good Times Fast Money in Sir Julius Chan Country
Following a special inquiry conducted by the Auditor General’s Office, a series of damning accusations have been directed at the New Ireland Government and a clique of Malaysian businessmen. The inquiry concluded K2 million of development funds were used by New Ireland Provincial Government to build Parliament Haus and a new residence for the Governor, Sir Julius Chan. The funds...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Govt Stole Development Funds from Logging Communities
More than K100 million collected by the government from logging companies to fund community development projects has been stolen or misused. Senior departmental heads appointed as trustees have failed in their duties and the biggest beneficiary has been the government itself, which has unlawfully taken more than K80 million of community funds. These are findings contained in a scathing Auditor...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
False Customs Declarations Underpin Illegal Cigarette Trade
New documentary evidence provided to PNGi puts an explosive spotlight on the alleged trade in counterfeit cigarettes. Insiders claim these documents confirm recent allegations that locally registered companies are illegally importing, and then re-selling counterfeit cigarettes, while law enforcement agencies intentionally turn a blind eye. Earlier this month, PNGi highlighted claims a Chinese owned business, Goldensborough Limited, has been smuggling,...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Can the PM Defend a Nation he Wants to Own?
A leader’s loyalty to his office must spring from his genuine concern for his country. It is always expected of a patriot that he will put his country’s interests before his own. In the event of any conflict of interests, the interests of the people he serves must prevail over his own personal interest. The higher the office held in...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Smoke and mirrors in cigarette wars
Law enforcement agencies in PNG struggle to make any impact because of chronic underfunding, low staff numbers and subpar facilities. It is an environment where staff morale and professional standards are difficult to maintain. As a consequence criminals operate with impunity, safe in the knowledge that most crime goes unreported and any investigations that are instigated face considerable hurdles at...
THE TOKAUT BLOG
Bangladeshi visa scam back in the spotlight
Twelve months ago, PNGi highlighted the unfortunate case of MD Alamin Shak. Shak was a young Bangladeshi graduate tricked into paying K40,000 to come to Papua New Guinea to take up what he believed was a job as a supermarket manager. He ended up entrapped and working in a kai bar. The man alleged to be behind that particular scam...
PNGi INVESTIGATES
Australia gets another F
Australian nationals have been at the centre of corruption scandals in PNG for decades, stretching back to the 1980s. They have been the executives forging the paperwork, the lawyers laundering the money, and the businessmen paying the bribes. In short Australia has been a critical spoke in the giant corruption machine subverting democracy in PNG. But hey its all PNG...