 |
 |
| Ex-MP in court over fraud | |
|
By DIPA GIGMAI FORMER Nipa Kutubu Open MP Robert Kopaol appeared before the Waigani Committal Court yesterday charged with defrauding the State of over K6 million. He was charged with two counts of misappropriation and was currently out on bail. According to court documents, the money belonged to Gobe and Kutubu landowners and was kept in a trust account by the Department of Finance and Treasury. Kopaol had reportedy formed an association and registered it on April 11, 2003. He then proceeded to identify some projects under the association’s name and applied for the landowners’ royalty held in the trust account. The Department of Petroleum and Energy, which managed and facilitated the trust account, was not aware of the transaction when two separate cheques totalling K3 million were raised and released to the association. The two cheques were said to have been deposited into the association’s account at Bank of South Pacific, Waigani on July 4, 2005. On July 18, 2005, K3.5 million was transferred into another account at the ANZ Bank, Waigani branch. Since then, all the monies in both accounts were withdrawn and were alleged to have been used for personal benefit rather than for the projects identified by the association. Presiding Committal Court magistrate Lawrence Kangwia adjourned the matter to Oct 23 for hearing as police files were not yet completed. |
|
| Nation Stories | |
 |
 |
 |
 |