A senior public servant attached to the Department of National Planning and Monitoring (DNPM) received a nine-year sentence for misappropriation. The decision was handed by Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika at the National Court.

The 39-year-old Jeffery Yakopya was the Assistant Secretary of the Economic Branch of the department when he committed the offense.

In July 2010 Mr. Yakopya, on behalf of his company Niugini Star Transport Ltd, submitted a proposal to the value of K14.6 million for the construction of roads and bridges in the Magarima District of the Hela province.

In November 2010, K5 million was approved from the proposal under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) or Public Investment Program (PIP) and paid to his company to construct three bridges.

Mr. Yakopya was alleged to have misappropriated these funds and was charged with one count of misappropriation and appeared at the Waigani National Court for trial in which he initially pleaded not guilty.

However, when the Court announced it would visit the site of the projects to verify that the funds had been appropriated accordingly, Mr Yakopya changed his plea to “guilty”. The Court learned only one bridge was built and the monies meant for two other bridges were misappropriated.

When sentencing Mr. Yakopya, the Deputy Chief Justice stated that public servants are employed by the government to serve the people by delivering goods and services meant for them and not stealing from them.

He further stated that honesty is a virtue that all people must attain, maintain, and retain in their lives at all stages of their lives. In this case, he said Mr. Yakopya failed to demonstrate that, even when the matter came on for trial.

The National Court convicted Mr. Yakopya for misappropriation of public money and sentenced him to nine years custody.