Jailed for misusing K1.1mil

FORMER East Sepik administrator Otto Ganai and his former deputy for corporate services Richard Komboi were jailed four years each by the National Court in Wewak for misappropriating K1.1 million belonging to Wewak General Hospital.
Justice Sinclair Gora found them guilty of corruptly misappropriating the monies needed to rehabilitate the hospital’s maternity ward.
The money, in the hospital’s trust account, was misappropriated between Nov 27, 2014, and Jan 30, 2015.
Both Ganai and Komboi were committed to stand trial on March 16, 2016 before the National Court after the Wewak District Court found sufficient evidence from police investigations to commit them.
However, Justice Gora ordered both to serve half of their term each (two years each) due to their age.
Ganai, from Yangoru’s Kuragumun village, East Sepik, had reached the advanced age of 66 and Komboi, from Kubalia’s Tangori, East Sepik, has reached the advanced age of 59.
Justice Gora ruled that Ganai had dishonestly used public funds for his personal benefit, breaching the Public Finance Management Act.
He was found guilty for failing to check the claim of K803,527.39 submitted by the Pings Construction for the purported maintenance of the hospital’s maternity ward.
The court also sentenced Komboi for failing to check the claim of K337,916 submitted by the contractor for the same work.
Meanwhile, their co-accused and Pings Construction general manager Bob Daniel, from Angoram’s Namuk village, East Sepik, is still facing trial before the same court.
Daniel is charged with submitting two false claims (first claim of K337,916.00 and second claim of K803,527.39) totalling K1,141,443.39 for the purported maintenance of the hospital’s maternity ward.
Daniel was paid K223,000 by the hospital board for the work his contractor had done to maintain the maternity ward.
He then allegedly used the same documents to submit the two false claims totalling K1,141, 443.39.