Teacher loses savings

THE Teaching Service Commission (TSC) will conduct an internal investigation into an alleged theft of about K35,000 from a teacher’s salary and savings, according to TSC chairman Baran Sori.
Sori said this in response to an instance of fraud perpetrated against a Jiwaka Primary School teacher Jacob Maima.
According to documents obtained by The National, Maima, whose teaching file number is 01513318, was suspended without pay from his position after the 2017 national elections.
Maima stayed out of teaching for almost a year before being reinstated following due process of reinstatement in August last year.
When he was suspended and put off the teachers’ payroll in 2017, his bank account with Westpac Bank became inactive on Aug 30, 2017, as a result of insufficient funds to keep the account operational.
After his reinstatement in Aug 2018, he opened a new bank account with Bank South Pacific (BSP), Mt Hagen branch and made a declaration for his salary to be paid through his new BSP account.
His pay was restored on fortnight 16 of 2018 and on fortnight 17, he was paid a backdated amount of K13,448 according to pay records with the payroll division of the Education Department.
However, instead of making the payment to his new BSP account, it was alleged that a new account under his name (Jacob Maima) with the same teaching position (file number: 01513318) was opened and the payment of K13,448 was made to that account and was used up.
Further, it was alleged that the same account and the teaching position file was used to withdraw a sum of K21,400 from his superannuation (Nambawan Super Ltd) and the money was used up.
Maima said he had written a number of letters to the payroll division to assist him recover his salary and the savings but nothing was done to date.
“I waited for so long and came down to Port Moresby during the third term break and I’m still here looking for my money,” he said.