Officers face fraud-related charges

TWO senior Customs officers appeared before the Waigani Committal Court yesterday accused of corruption and conspiracy to defraud.
PNG border security acting Customs commissioner Benjamin Sine, 42, from Goroka in Eastern Highlands, and southern region border response officer Ernest Illarupa, 39, from Rigo in Central, appeared before Magistrate Ernest Wilmot.
The pair, each on a K1,000 bail, were also charged with extortion by public officers, abuse of office and conspiracy to bring false accusations.
Wilmot said Sine and Illarupa were alleged to have received bribes amounting to K30,000 on Sept 12 last year from an associate of an illegal importer of counterfeit cigarettes Simon Rui to assist them (importers) avoid being penalised by law enforcement officers.
Police further alleged that the K30,000 payment was made to Illarupa by Rui outside the Nightclub in Port Moresby after Illarupa was alleged to have sent a text message to him which read: “Good day Simon, my name is Ernest – border manger with Customs enforcement and working under commissioner Sine.
“He asked me to talk to you regarding the recent detention of a 20ft container.
“Call me when you are free to talk.”
It was alleged the money was shared between Sine and Illarupa at a later date.
Customs investigation directorate of the enforcement division under the leadership of Moses Tang alleged that his team discovered other fraudulent documents that were used specifically to avoid state duty and goods and services tax (GST) components totalling K668,227 that were supposed to be paid into state accounts.
Tang’s investigation alleged that the component payment had been deposited into a Customs agency account that was later divided by way of 70 per cent to Sine and 30 per cent to Illarupa for their personal benefits.
Meanwhile, Wilmot withdrew the allegation of accepting bribes at Armani Nightclub due to wording errors in the summary facts and advised police prosecutor Peter Samghi to amend the charges before the first mention on Aug 15.