Prime Minister James Marape Photo: Nathan McKinnon
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape is among several state witnesses expected to give evidence this week in a high-profile case related to illegal payments made to convicted lawyer Paul Paraka.
On Monday, there was heavy police presence outside the Waigani Court House, as former Deputy Secretary of Finance Jacob Yafai pleaded not guilty to several charges including misappropriation and conspiracy to defraud.
In a statement released before the hearing, Police Commissioner David Manning said the case has come after extensive investigations into the central role of the accused in the allegations of misuse, conspiracy to defraud, misappropriation, and false pretences.
Meanwhile, Paraka was convicted last year of misappropriating over US$45 million in government funds acquired between 2007 and 2011.
He failed in his appeal against his 20-year jail term in November last year.
At the time, the Post-Courier reported that Paraka claimed that the trial was unfair, the decision was biased, the judge's findings were not based on evidence presented in court, not all the cheques involved had been assessed by the judge, and the search warrants were illegal.
Paraka appealed to the three-member Supreme Court, seeking to have the National Court ruling overturned, but they rejected his appeal and ordered him to serve his jail term.
