Two more charged in audit case

The National National

By ALICE OSII
TWO more senior officers at the Auditor-General’s office are defending themselves in court over fraud-related charges involving K247,500.
They are deputy Auditor-General Andy Vui and deputy Auditor-General corporate services Ivan Boga.
Auditor-General Philip Nauga and Port Moresby businessman Frank Benabo are also facing similar charges.
Boga was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud, one count of misappropriation, one count of abuse of office and one count of false pretence. Vui was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud, one count of misappropriation and one count of abuse of office.
Magistrate Cosmas Bidar extended their bail and adjourned the case to Tuesday next week for mention.
Two other officials of the Attorney-General’s Office, Noga Kila and Lemeki Ila, were mentioned in court documents but had not been charged.
Police alleged that on June 18, 2013, Boga and Vui conspired with Nauga, Benabo, Kila and Ila to defraud the Office of the Auditor-General of K247,500. The court heard that contracts were awarded in 2013 to the accounting firm of Frank Benabo and Associates for two separate audits of Aitape and Mendi district services improvement programme funds for the period between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2012.
The contracts were:

  • K123,750 for Aitape for the period between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2012; and,
  • K123,750 for Mendi for the period between Jan 1 to Aug 31.

The court was told that in both cases, a certificate of inexpediency was requested, the money was paid out but no audit was made.
Police alleged that the payment of K247,500 to Frank Benabo and Associates deliberately bypassed the procurement and public tender procedures.