By Rory Callinan in Sydney Morning
Herald
FURNISHINGS
for the homes of Papua New Guinea bureaucrats have been ''incorrectly'' bought
using $150,000 worth of Australian taxpayers funds and a thief has pocketed
just over $250,000 from a justice strengthening project also funded by
Australia.
The
waste was among about $1.5 million worth of AusAID funding the federal agency
admits will never be recovered as a result of frauds and irregular spending
from 2004 to 2010.
This was
revealed after the Herald asked the
agency to detail how much had been recovered from a series of high-value frauds
and whether those responsible had faced justice.
AusAID
confirmed no one would ever face charges in four cases involving significant
amounts of aid money dating back to 2006. Suspects in four other incidents are
yet to face court despite the suspected fraud occurring in one case up to six
years earlier.
However,
the AusAID first assistant director general, Laurie Dunn, defended the agency's
handling of the matters, saying some cases emphasised the reasons behind the
programs while resourcing had been increased to crack down on theft.
Mr Dunn
confirmed the agency's largest outstanding fraud still related to a load of
food and equipment worth $1.2 million that was allegedly stolen by the Eritrean
government.
He said
the agency was continuing to push for the return of the goods but he admitted
the food had been consumed.
In
another case, AusAID said a suspect defrauded about $258,391 from a PNG aid
program that was supposed to improve the justice system in 2006.
The
suspect was sacked but was never charged after the matter was not finalised
before the statute of limitations expired, according to AusAID.
Mr Dunn
said there was ''not a lot more we can do''. He denied any suggestion the loss
coming from a program supposed to enhance justice was embarrassing, saying this
incident was ''the reason we are there''.
In
another PNG program, some $155,080 was initially thought to have been stolen
from a program on Bougainville in 2008 but was instead used to buy furnishings
for the residences of PNG civil servants.
However,
an AusAID spokesman said incorrect procedures had occurred in the situation and
budget controls were tightened to prevent a recurrence.
Another
PNG loss the agency wrote off involved the provision of $44,222 to a
sub-contractor to provide kit homes for a hospital in Oro province.
The
agency confirmed the money had been a deposit and the Hong Kong sub-contractor
did not provide the homes and refused to return the money.
Mr Dunn
said it ''underscored the difficulty in recovering money in developing
countries'' and then a third country.
He said
since the audits, AusAID had boosted anti-fraud measures. ''We have a very
strong audit process in AusAID and we have just recently increased resourcing
and set up a new chief of audit program,'' Mr Dunn said.
The
agency had some successes, including recovering $88,315 allegedly stolen from a
financial management program in PNG in 2008.
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