Charges against Agon changed

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POLICE prosecutors have withdrawn a charge of conspiracy against National Gaming Control Board (NGCB) chief executive officer Imelda Agon.
Agon made her second appearance in the Waigani Committal Court yesterday.
Police also dropped the amount of K900,000 to K600,000 that Agon is alleged to have prevented from being transferred to a hospital account.
Police alleged that Agon diverted the money to the Madang district treasury operating account.
Agon’s lawyer accepted the change after Magistrate Paul Nii allowed her to consult her client.
Both accepted the changes.
Agon is now charged with one count of defrauding and abuse of office of the sum of K600,000.
She was charged with defrauding and abusing her office to divert the money allocated for the Yagaum Rural Hospital to the Madang treasury operating account on Dec 28, 2012. It was part of K1.2 million approved by the NGCB for the hospital.
Agon, 49, from Tufa village, Kavieng, New Ireland, was granted bail to appear before the Waigani District Court for committal proceedings last month.
In December 2011, a project submission of K1.2 million for the hospital was submitted to the NGCB which paid an initial K300,000 to the hospital’s bank account on May 2, 2012. The hospital administration then bought an X-ray machine and an ultra-sound scanner.
Agon returns to court on Nov 10.