Fraud case struck out

A FORMER DHC Customs employee accused of creating fraudulent documents to defraud PNG Customs has had his case struck out at the Waigani Committal Court yesterday due to insufficient evidence.
Davis Overa from Gaire village, Central, was alleged to have created fraudulent documents off line to divert PNG revenue components in terms of duties and GST without remitting to PNG Customs.
Overa at that time was the marketing and logistics manager of DHC Customs Agency and was alleged to have colluded with Charles Nanadai, a former post clearance audit manager at PNG Customs.
It is alleged that Overa colluded with Nanadai and another customs employee in creating fraudulent documents as receipts of payments to clear containers of certain companies from the wharf without paying the mandated State components (duties and goods and services tax).
The alleged companies whose shipments were cleared fraudulently by Overa were Global Construction, Spectra Industries Ltd and Pacific Star Ltd.
The accused allegedly used dialled entries from other importers to the mentioned companies’ declaration forms to make out that they had already paid duties and GST in order to get clearance for their shipments.
The three companies’ State components, which was valued at K682,265.19 (VAT) and K546,910.70 (GST) respectively was then processed off record and transferred to Overa and his co-conspirators for their personal use without the knowledge of PNG Customs.
These discrepancies where noted when the three companies were queried about their State component payments which was to be remitted to PNG Customs as State revenue.
Further investigations revealed that Overa along with his cohorts defrauded the three companies as per the Customs Enforcement Directorate records.
Overa, along with Nanadai, were both charged with conspiracy to defraud.
Overa appeared in court on a K1,000 bail while Nanadai’s bail was set at K500.
The court had their case struck out because the case had dragged on for over three months without any police evidence.
Magistrate Cosmas Bidar ordered bail for both to be reimbursed.