By SHEILA LASIBORI
A SENIOR Internal Revenue Commission officer is to appear before the Waigani Committal Court today on 69 charges of corruption, amongst others.
Tau Daniel, 43, from Suau in Milne Bay, was charged after a joint investigation by the commission and the Police National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate.
He is the team leader of a unit within the commission’s audit and enforcement division (AED).
The charges involve an amount totalling K198,731.40 which was said to have been fraudulently paid to a company based in Alotau between June 1, 2003, and July 31, 2005.
The company buys and exports copra.
According to police prosecutors, Daniel colluded with two executives of the company to commit the fraud.
He is alleged to have given cheques totalling more than K198,173 to the two men on seven different occasions, supposedly as tax returns.
The investigators found that the commission owed the company only K2,519.64.
They said Daniel was paid a “commission” which was deposited into his account with a bank in Port Moresby.
Police said the investigation was still going on and the two company executives would be brought in soon.