The Paraka Scam For the past six years, the Department of Finance has been embroiled in a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal surrounding former finance secretary
Gabriel Yer and PNG lawyer
Paul Paraka. In 2006, it came to light that between 2001 and 2006, Yer and several senior officials had been making false compensation claims of up to PGK780 million against the state. 700 claims were made by lawyers against the state and approved by the solicitor general and the finance secretary without being tested in court. Yer made a claim in the name of his son for the sum of PGK700,000 through his lawyer, Paraka, which was paid in full. Pakara profited from the scheme by making three of the largest fraudulent claims. In addition, he was hired by the state and paid PGK41 million between 2003 and 2006 to act on the state's behalf for claims made through other law firms. The Commission was suspended and restarted five times between September 2006 and September 2008 due to issues over financing. At its tabling in Parliament, Somare commented that "people who read it, would shudder in awe" at the level of corruption in the finance department.
Findings and response The Commission's report was broadly damning and stated, "The plain conclusion is that in all but a handful of claims the statutory process has been grossly abused, allowing illegitimate and improper claims and excess payments and excessive payouts to be legitimized."
Somare's Appointment of O'Neill In July 2010, Somare appointed MP
Peter O'Neill as Treasury and Minister of Finance. According to PNG media sources, the appointment was seen as a "disaster". O'Neill, the current Prime Minister of PNG, was allegedly involved in the National Provident Fund (NPF) Tower fraud, in 1999, in which millions of Kinas were stolen from the retirement savings of ordinary PNG citizens. There was a Commission of Inquiry into the NPF, which concluded in 2002 that O'Neill "definitely benefited from proceeds of the NPF Tower Fraud". ==2021 ransomware==