Expat charged with bribery allegedly flees out of country

National

A CHINESE man is alleged to have left the country after failing to appear in the Waigani Committal Court on Friday.
Zhang Ruiqiang, 46, from Fujian in China, was accused of offering bribe to a police officer to prevent him conducting a routine search of a shop in Port Moresby.
It is alleged that on Dec 19, 2018, Customs officers, with the assistance of police, carried out a search of Zhong Ren Ltd Trading inside the 9-Mile Plaza in Port Moresby.
The search had eventuated after Customs raided a 20ft (6.1m) container at the Port Moresby wharf containing Double Happiness cigarettes valued at K4.18 million.
Lin had evaded capture by police but was arrested at the premise of the Zhong Ren Ltd Trading, which he owned, after police received information of his whereabouts.
PNG Customs were notified about the arrest and was tasked to do a follow through search of Zhong Ren Ltd Trading outlet.
It is alleged that Ruiqiang, who was an employee of the shop, was assisting Customs officers and police with the search of the shop.
During the search, Ruiqiang allegedly tried to bribe police officer Aipe Samuel by offering him K500 and said to the officer “for your drinks and please don’t take my boss”.
Aipe refused the bribe and made it known to the other officers conducting the search.
He was then arrested and taken to the Badili Police Station where he was charged with bribery, released on a K1,000 bail and was summoned to appear in court on Aug 16.
Ruiqiang, however, failed to appear in court and has been missing since being released on bail.
Magistrate Ernest Wilmot adjourned the matter to Friday for review.