Australian lawyer Greg Sheppard has been arrested in Papua New Guinea this week for an alleged fraud of just under $100 million.
As The Guardian reports, Sheppard - father to three members of Queensland outfit Sheppard and who served as financier to the band - was arrested in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea on Wednesday and was charged with two counts of conspiracy and two counts of false pretence for the alleged defrauding.
It is alleged that $268m kina ($AU97 million) was misappropriated from the Western Province People’s Dividends Community Mine Continuation Agreement fund and put in Sheppard's law firm account, Young & Williams Lawyers, as well as the Ok Tedi Fly River Development Foundation (OTFRDF) account; a "not-for-profit organisation focused on improving the lives of the Papua New Guinea communities".
The money was intended to go towards the development of schools, hospitals and roads in the Western Province impacted by the OK Tedi Mine, however the funds have not been received.
"The Special Police Forensic and Criminal investigations will allege that two transactions totaling K52 Million were paid into the Young & Williams Lawyers' account and three transactions totaling K216 million were paid into the OTFRDF Ltd account," a statement released yesterday by Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner, David Manning, reads.
"The investigation remains ongoing and includes a detailed forensic investigation into the appointment of the OTFRDF Ltd Directors, the expenditure of the K268 Million which police will alleged were not authorised by the Trust Instrument and the bank accounts held by OTFRDF Ltd and Young & William Lawyers. This includes forwarding proceeds from the K268 million to personal bank accounts of OTFRDF directors/employees.
"Police will also allege that the expenditures were not consistent with the spirit, tenor and intended purpose of the WPPD CMCA Trust Funds, and used for purposes contrary to the CMCA beneficiaries."
In 2015, Sheppard, who has worked in Papua New Guinea for over three decades, was caught on camera giving alleged bribery advice to an undercover operative.
"If you were to pay seven figures to anybody, the world would fall in on top of you," Sheppard can be seen saying in the footage caught by SBS' Dateline.
"I'm approaching it from a lawyer's point of view. I don't want to advise you to do anything illegal."
Following his arrest yesterday, Sheppard was taken to Boroko prison before being released on bail.
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