Official: Politicians implicated in fraud

 TOP bureaucrats and politicians have been implicated in fraud and corruption allegations involving millions of kina of public funds, an official says.

Raphael Luman, a lawyer with the office of the Public Prosecutor, told a conference attended by magistrates in Kokopo that “many people with influence” were being investigated.

He was making a presentation on committal court challenges on fraud cases.

He said fraud cases today involved huge sums of public funds and that most cases involved the use of corporate entities.

Magistrates were urged to be critical about long formal submissions made by defence lawyers in committal court hearings.

It was noted that lawyers had been treating magistrates like trial judges, which should not be the case.

A challenge for the committal courts too is when defendants and their lawyers submit unnecessary challenges against the decision to commit which then delays trial.

Magistrates were urged to be in charge when in court, to take note of conduct, cover their decisions well, avoid unnecessary challenges and to keep detailed notes.