Ex-BSP boss expresses shock over arrest

FORMER Bank South Pacific boss Garth McIlwain was shocked and completely surprised when he was taken in for questioning by police on Wednesday, The National reports,

He did not know he was going to be charged with fraud and forgery, and made to fork out K5, 000 in cash for bail.

“I have served the PNG banking industry for more than 42 years and have worked with the PNG Banking Corporation, the Credit Corporation and BSP and, in all these years, this is the first instance that I have been faced with such criminal charges, which is very disappointing indeed,” McIlwain told The National yesterday when recounting the four-hour ordeal that he went through, including being locked up like a common criminal in the police cells.

McIlwain told The National that he was initially asked last December to assist police with their investigations into issues relating to court cases involving BSP, and he had kept in contact with the fraud squad.

 “I was cooperating with the fraud squad as they asked me to do, in December, so when I arrived in Port Moresby from Rabaul, I rang an officer there to let them know I was in town.

“When I did that on Monday, I was asked to come into the office on Wednesday.

“I did so, at about 3pm. I was kept there from then until about 5:30pm and was taken to Boroko police station and remained there from 6pm to 7pm.”

After he was charged, McIlwain was allowed to make one telephone call, and he called BSP executive Robin Flemming, who went with lawyer Michael Henao to assist him.

Flemming had brought the K5, 000 bail money.

The National had erroneously reported that Flemming was arrested and charged along with McIlwain. 

“I did not have that kind of money on me; I do not carry that kind of cash and the police told me to pay K5, 000 cash before being released,” McIlwain said.

He was CEO of BSP from 2000 to last year.

He is a naturalised PNG citizen, now retired and living in Kokopo with his family – his wife is from East New Britain.

McIlwain is credited with the successful merger of PNGBC and BSP, now the biggest bank in PNG and the Pacific region.

The utterance and fraud charges he is facing relate to a complaint lodged to police by businessman and former politician Peter Yama.

Yama yesterday distanced himself from the McIlwain arrest, saying he did not intimidate or influence police to make arrests.

“I first complained to police about BSP three, four years ago. Why would the charges take this long if I had such close connections?

“Police see the evidence, they see something is wrong and they acted,” he told AAP.

“This is not tactics of intimidation; I did not go to the police commissioner and tell him to make this happen; I’ve been in Madang, not Port Moresby.

“I do not have a grudge against anybody,” he added.