Attoney General Ano Pala arrested and charged

PNG's Attorney General Ano Pala arrested and charged

Papua New Guinea’s National and Anti-corruption detectives have arrested and charged the country's Attorney-General Ano Pala.  Ano Pala was picked up and taken in for questioning by PNG's National and Anti-Corruption Fraud squad at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby on Tuesday afternoon upon his arrival from Brisbane. Police interviewed him for several hours where he was charged with 15 counts of abuse of office and 15 counts of misappropriating public funds totalling K3.19 million. 

The charges related to him abusing his office and power to apply public funds earmarked for Rigo District in the Central Province for his own use.

According to Police media statement, “this arrest is a result of ongoing investigations involving District Services Improvement Program (DSIP) Funds and further arrests will be made soon."

"He used the money for his own use, it’s not something that happened overnight, it’s an ongoing investigation and further arrests are expected to be made soon in relation to the case."

He allowed to bail out with K 5000.00 and will appear in court  on Friday for mentioning. 

This is the second time PNG's fraud squad has arrested the Attorney-General.

Last year, they charged him with perverting the course of justice for his role in frustrating their attempts to arrest Prime Minister Peter O'Neill for official corruption.