Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 23/06/2014 Reporter: Sarah Ferguson Papua New Guinea corruption investigator Sam Koim accuses the countrys prime minister of corruption and misappropriation of funds, and explains the case being made. Transcript SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop recently described Papua New Guinea as our dearest, closest friends, but now corruption allegations against the Prime Minister, Peter ONeill, have thrown the country into turmoil. In a stunning development last week, an arrest warrant was issued for Prime Minister ONeill accusing him of authorizing corrupt payments to a powerful PNG lawyer, Paul Paraka. Mr Paraka is currently awaiting trial on charges of stealing, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud his nation. The case against Prime Minister ONeill alleges that he acted dishonestly and corruptly in authorizing $28 million in fraudulent legal bills submitted by the lawyer. Mr ONeill has denied the charges, claiming they are politically motivated, and responded by sacking PNGs Attorney-General, Police Commissioner and the head of the countrys anti-corruption taskforce, Sam Koim. Sam Koim has flown to Australia to seek the Federal Governments help in pursuing his corruption investigation. Mr Koim joined me here in the Sydney studio a short time ago. Sam Koim, welcome to 7.30. SAM KOIM, PNG CORRUPTION INVESTIGATOR: Its a pleasure. SARAH FERGUSON: Now, you asked the Police Commissioner of Papua New Guinea to issue an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of the country for misappropriation, conspiracy and official corruption. These are very serious charges. What exactly are you accusing Mr ONeill of doing? SAM KOIM: Well, we have in our investigation asked the police that there was more than sufficient evidence to mount a case against Prime Minister ONeill. SARAH FERGUSON: So what exactly is that case? What are you accusing him of having done? SAM KOIM: We basically made an assessment of the case and we found that Mr ONeill knew that the bills were improper and he dishonestly directed the bills to be paid to a law firm that did not deserve those bills. And there is more than sufficient evidence. SARAH FERGUSON: Youre accusing your Prime Minister of corruptly paying or authorizing the payment of fees to a law firm in Papua New Guinea. Is that correct? SAM KOIM: It is correct and it is a very serious call. But we satisfied ourselves that there is a case. SARAH FERGUSON: Now, I need to make it clear that Mr ONeill completely dismisses these charges. He says that they are politically motivated. How good is the evidence that you have against him? SAM KOIM: The evidence was tested and corroborated independently and we reached a firm belief that there is a case. His allegations of those evidence being politically motivated or the charges being politically motivated are things that he can prove in court. SARAH FERGUSON: Just give us a sense of the amount of money involved here. What sort of payments was the Prime Minister authorising to be paid? SAM KOIM: The Prime Minister, in his letter, he directed for full settlement without giving any figure. Its like an open cheque. And as a result of that, Paraka started sending or submitting bills to Department of Finance to make payments. All in all, there was about 80 million kina that was paid by Department of Finance as a result of Prime Ministers directive. SARAH FERGUSON: Thats the equivalent of something like AU$20 to AU$25 million. SAM KOIM: Yes. SARAH FERGUSON: Youre talking about tens of millions of dollars that have been effectively stolen from the Papua New Guinean people. Has any of that money ended up in Australia, as youve previously alleged? SAM KOIM: We (inaudible) that at least six million kina, which is about AU$2 million, has made its way to Australian bank accounts. SARAH FERGUSON: And have you talked to the Australian authorities about that, to the Federal Police, to AUSTRAC? SAM KOIM: Yes and we are working on those cases as well. SARAH FERGUSON: And are they taking action to try and stop that money getting to Australia? SAM KOIM: As of last - I mean, previously, there was not much, but after my talk in October 2012, the Australian Government has actually stepped up, and as I indicated in a number of interviews, theres been some increasing appetite in doing the right thing and help us to curtail some of the money laundering activities by our ... SARAH FERGUSON: But do you think its still going on? SAM KOIM: Ah, thats something that I cant say at the moment, but I would be encouraged to see if theres increasing - you know, they continue to step up, because at the moment, people are not restrained from moving money to Australia. SARAH FERGUSON: And what is it that you want now from the Australian Government? Our Foreign Minister the other day described Papua New Guinea as family, as our dearest and closest friends. Why are you here and what do you want them to do? SAM KOIM: Why I am here is because, as you can understand, Australia has spent so many taxpayers money to develop Papua New Guinea. As a matter of fact, Australia spends on average about AU$500 million to Papua New Guinea annually. And part of that money is spent to develop the rule of law in our country. Right now whats happening is not a political situation, it is the enforcement of the rule of law. The institutions of government are trying to uphold the rule of law and one person is using his position and power to undermine the rule of law. Its not a political situation. We did not intend to have a political outcome in this situation. It may have a political outcome, but its not our intention. We just pursued a course of justice and I would want Australia to see that it is an individual who is undermining the rule of law, the very thing that Australia has helped over the years to build it up. SARAH FERGUSON: And by that individual, you mean your Prime Minister, Peter ONeill? SAM KOIM: Yes. SARAH FERGUSON: And what happens next? Cause also, one of the first acts that he made was to disband your taskforce, which he of course had brought into being in the first place to investigate corruption in PNG. Are you going to be able to continue with your investigation now? SAM KOIM: Ah, it seriously affects most of our cases. We got so much at stake. We got cases going through the trial process. We got so many trials coming up. It affects our cases. Of course there is this understanding that the police would then take over the case, but in practical situations, most of our cases would be seriously affected. SARAH FERGUSON: So does that mean that this case against your Prime Minister will continue or will it fall by the wayside? SAM KOIM: Ah, it - the way its going, theyre trying to affect it, but I have a strong belief that many thinking Papua New Guineans within those responsible positions, law enforcement agencies, will continue this case and thats why I confidently stated that when the wheels of justice has turned, it must not be stopped. SARAH FERGUSON: And is it your view that the evidence is strong enough that Australia should cease its relationship and support of your Prime Minister? SAM KOIM: Ah, the call whether Australia should take an action or not is its Australias call. I cannot ask the Australian Government or demand Australia to do that. But for us, we have a strong case to pursue. Its not only my own. We made the immediate assessment and we submitted our assessment to the Police Commissioner. The Police Commissioner then instituted a top-ranking police officers who have been doing their job for the last 34 years. Those top-ranking officers then sat down and judiciously assessed our brief and they also reached a conclusion that Mr ONeill had a case. And the police officers then proceeded to make an application for a warrant of arrest. The Chief Magistrate of our country sat and heard the case and reached a conclusion that a warrant could be issued under the circumstances. Warrant was actually issued. So, different authorities are involved in separately reaching one and the same conclusion. SARAH FERGUSON: Sam Koim, thank you very much indeed for joining us. SAM KOIM: Thanks for having me.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 07:13:51 +0000
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