1 week Ago By Melyne Baroi
PAPUA New Guinea Rugby Union president Paul Siwi is in court to battle fraud allegations labelled against him by the Bank South Pacific Financial Group Limited. Siwi, 54, from Kerowagi in Chimbu Province, was arraigned by Magistrate Paul Puri Nii yesterday in the Waigani District Court. He is fighting three charges which include an attempt to extort by threats, conspiracy to defraud and unlawful justification of the use of an electronic device.
He told the court he understood when the charges were read out to him. Police alleged that Siwi “threatened to cause the BSP Financial Group Limited’s chief risk officer to commit fraud, with intent to extort a sum of K900,000 from him”. Police further alleged that he “conspired with two others, namely Turi Kuruwa and Mrs Kanea, by presenting fraudulent information to BSP Financial Group Limited employees to defraud BSP with the intent to extort monies to the sum of K900,000”.
Siwi also allegedly, without lawful excuse, threatened to use an electronic device to upload on Facebook and threaten the chief risk officer of committing fraud. He is charged under the Criminal Code and the Cyber Crime Act for these alleged crimes. Siwi is expected to return to court with his lawyer on October 31 with a defence statement to present to the court.
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