Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Changing laws to stop PNG officials investing overseas needed - TI

Posted at 22:38 on 09 October, 2012 UTC

Transparency International Papua New Guinea has called for a number of Pacific countries to look at changing laws which allow officials from PNG to invest the proceeds of corruption abroad.

The call comes after Sam Koim, the head of PNG’s anti-corruption investigator Task Force Sweep, told Australia that despite its calls for good governance in PNG, it has never repatriated any proceeds of corruption back to PNG.

TI PNG’s Lawrence Stephens says many PNG officials also invest money from misuse of public funds, or bribes, in New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Singapore.

“TI’s been speaking pretty consistently about needing the help of our friends and neighbours in trying to find ways to stop illegal investment, illegal transfer of funds to those countries and investment in those countries on behalf of people who shouldn’t have this amount of wealth.”

Lawrence Stephens.