Man cleared of misuse charge

THE Lae Committal Court has cleared a 56-year-old man charged with one count of misappropriating more than K1.4 million for Gagidu market project in Finschhafen, Morobe.
Senior Magistrate Pious Tapil, on May 9, discharged Sewah Kondang from Magueko village, Finschhafen, after noting that the evidence provided in court were insufficient and did not clearly prove the elements of the charge.
“Evidences provided are defective,” he said.
“The court notes that these are public funds but there is no prove of any professional audit conducted in relation to the funds.”
Magistrate Tapil also said that police report did not show that a valid search warrant was obtained.
The court ordered that Kondang be discharged from his charge and all information be struck out and bail refunded.
A police brief in court alleged that Kondang and his accomplices between Nov 8, 2019, and May 28, 2020, in Lae, diverted K1,480,000, the money meant for Gagidu market redevelopment to one Finschhafen Development Corporation (FDC).
The court heard that when the funds were deposited into FDC’s account number 1000167191, bank statements revealed that most of the funds were withdrawn by Kondang.
The court also noted that total funding of K2 million was provided by the Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs and purposely earmarked for developing Gagidu market.