K2b to K3b lost: Kramer

POLICE Minister Bryan Kramer, pictured, estimates that between K2 billion and K3 billion of public funds have been lost through white collar corruption.
He attended a two-day conference on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing in Melbourne, Australia, last week.
Kramer said funds that should have been spent on life-saving medical equipment and supplies were instead squandered, ending up in the pockets of corrupt government officials and their foreign cronies.
“It’s believed that up to a billion kina of these funds were channelled to off-shore bank accounts,” he said.
The conference is an annual event attended by 164 member states.
They exchanged ideas and financial intelligence to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
PNG is a member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering. It is a regional body to assist countries in the Asia-Pacific region strengthen their anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regimes.
Acting Police Commissioner David Manning and High Commissioner to Australia John Kali, attended the conference with Kramer.
“In 2015, Papua New Guinea made the headlines after a programme aired on Australian TV exposing how dirty money reached Australia purportedly laundered through foreign law firms,” Kramer said.
“In my capacity as Minister for Police, I look forward to working with and learning from international community to find out where billions of Kina stolen every year end up.
“Further, to ensure our law enforcement agencies are well equipped to investigate and prosecute those who have been stealing from our people.”