Zariga faces more charges

By SAMUEL RAITANO
POLICE have slapped two more fraud-related charges on former Department of National Planning and Monitoring secretary Ruby Zariga, taking to four charges she now faces.
Zariga was allowed out on an additional K1000 bail.
The new charges are on one count each of official corruption and abuse of office.
Zariga, who was arrested on Oct 31, yesterday appeared briefly at the Waigani District Court to answer to the two earlier charges of misappropriation and conspiring to defraud.
The court was then told that Zariga had two additional charges.
Magistrate Cosmas Bidar said the court expected the police information relating to the two new charges to be filed at the district court registry for the court to study the details.
The prosecution said the new information had been filed in the registry and was still there.
Zariga had been implicated in relation to her short-lived reign as the secretary during which she was allegedly involved in facilitating illegal payments of state monies kept under the department.
This includes the payment of K10 million meant for airfreight subsidies to airline company, Travel Air.
Zariga is expected to appear in court to face all four charges on Dec 20.