Leaked documents [see below] reveal how the Tufi Local Level Government President, Jaff Taua, tried to steal more than K15,000 by attempting to have a company pay a ‘refund’ into his brother’s bank account. Initially, the cheque for K15,730 was paid by the Ijiviatiri District Treasury office to Nawae Construction for the building of a slipway for the controversial MV Ijivitari – the ship bought by former Ijivitai MP, Cecil King Doruba
The LLG President then wrote to the manager of Nawae Construction to have the money refunded “to meet other urgent needs of the vessel while awaiting the release of funds for the vessel” from the district administration before December. It is not certain if the reason for the claim was legitimate but instead of asking for the refund to be paid back into the district treasury account, Jeff Taua requested for the money to be paid into his brother’s bank account!
The letter, received on 3rd September 2014, reads: “The payment of the refund is to be made to the project coordinator, Mr. Felix Taua, BSP account number 1010373502 to enable him to manage the project”
Adding to the financial process irregularities, the LLG president goes on to apologize to Nawae Construction for the inconvenience and promises to repay the money when funds became available. “I want to assure you that once funds are released, I will make payments into the account without delay and send the vessel to slipway.”
This revelation comes the day after a text message promising a K20,000 bribe to the Tufi LLG president was revealed.
