Sources within an Australian Real Estate firm have been exposing prominent Papua New Guinean MPs and Public Servants to PNGBLOGS who have purchased properties in Australia via dubious means. The latest is Sports, Special Events and APEC Minister, Justin TKATCHENKO. PNGBlogs recently exposed the recent purchase of a property by MINISTER TKATCHENKO and his family at BROOKFIELD outside BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA. MINISTER TKATCHENKO lied through his teeth in Parliament when he said he gave up controls to his parent company KITORO NO 33. Truth is he is still solely involved with the company operations with his wife.
Papua New Guineans have been duped again by JUSTIN TKATCHENKO with a purchase he made prior to entering Parliament when he was the sole owner of Kitoro No 33.
In 2010 it was alleged Tkatchenko received over K3 million in payments from the National Capital District through his landscaping companies Kitoro No.33 and PNG Gardner. It is claimed these payments, were authorised by NCDC Governor Powes Parkop in breach of the Public Finance Management Act, the NCDC Act and the Organic Law on the Leadership Code.
The payments, which were made for work on the NCDC Mini Park, Water Fountain, Waterslide and Zoo and Animal Farm, were made with no quotations provided and no public tendering process – breaching the fundamental principles of value for money, transparency, effective competition, fair and ethical dealing and efficiency.
The K3 Million obtained by Mr TKATCHENKO was used to pay for the property at 10 Cubberla St, Fig Tree Pocket, just outside the Brisbane Central Business District. The property is valued at $1.1Million dollars in today market rate.
There are more than 30 prominent Papua New Guineans involved in the purchases of properties inside the Sunshine state, we are looking at exposing all of them one at a time before the elections so Papua New Guineans can make the right mark when it comes to choose. But the allegations against Tkatchenko go back much further. In 1999 a Special Investigation into Fraud, Corruption and Financial Mismanagement at the National Capital District Commission, done by TSK International, found that Justin Tkatchenko as Acting City Administrator had fraudulently obtained a total of K12,000 through two cheques in the sums of K4,000 and K8,000.
The investigation concluded “Mr Tkatchenko had dishonestly applied the monies to his own use”.
Although the police did investigate these allegations and criminal charges were laid a Magistrate dismissed the case before it got to trial – a decision that was later heavily criticized in the National Court. Indeed when Tkatchenko then sued the police alleging malicious prosecution and false imprisonment Justice Salika not only dismissed the case brought by Tkatchenko he described it as “frivolous and vexatious”. Salika found there was plenty of evidence to justify the charges against Tkatchenko and that it “is a wonder to this Court” why the Magistrate dismissed the case.
