Papua New Guinea's former Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has come out swinging at the Commission of Inquiry into a US$1.2 billion loan acquired in 2014 by his government.
Former prime minister of PNG Peter O'Neill Photo: AFP
O'Neill has told the Commission that members of his former cabinet who deny knowledge of how the loan came to be approved were cowards.
The loan was used by the O'Neill government to buy shares in Oil Search, PNG's largest oil and gas company.
However the deal, brokered by Sydney-based consultants of the Swiss investment bank UBS, led to a loss of $US432 million.
UBS reportedly profited around $US83 million.
Furthermore, the government at the time did not follow normal parliamentary consultation procedures before approving the state loan, which O'Neill previously said was because on the urgency needed for making the transaction.
Some members of O'Neill's former cabinet told the commission they were blindsided by the quantity and complexity of the deal.
Current prime Minister James Marape, Finance Minister at the time, was one of those who has appeared before the inquiry, and the Commission found he had signed off on the loan's approval.
O'Neill said it was interesting to see that the some people had lost their memory very quickly when it came to their involvement in the transaction.
He said it was cowardly that they were able to deny knowledge of the deal for political convenience.
