Official welcomes housing allowance investigation

WEST Sepik administrator Conrad Tilau has welcomed police investigations into allegations that he received housing allowances from the National Government more than what he was entitled to.
Tilau is before the Waigani District Court on four counts of allegedly receiving housing allowances totalling K311,048.21 despite living in a State-owned house.
“I will go before the court to answer these charges,” he said.
“But, what I’m concerned (about) is that the Ombudsman Commission has investigated (this) and has cleared me from these allegations.”
Tilau said the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate detectives re-arrested him on the same allegations.
“If the Ombudsman Commission charged me for allegedly breaching the Leadership Code, definitely they could have referred me to the fraud squad to be charged criminally.”
Tilau said he suspected that those involved in burning down his house at Dasi in Vanimo last Tuesday, may have been the ones who laid the complaint with the fraud squad.
“These suspects are now accusing me of double-dipping from public funds in relation to the house that they themselves allegedly burned down.”
Fraud detectives arrested Tilau, 56, last Thursday in Port Moresby.
Tilau, from Passam village, East Sepik, was charged with misappropriation of State funds.
As part of his contract of employment, he is entitled to a housing allowance which is payable on the condition that he is not living in State-owned accommodation.