Lawyer, William Sentowas arrested last Friday by the Task Force Sweep Team, on five different charges, including Official Corruption and Abuse of Office.
This was alleged to have occurred while Sent, aged 37, from Kerekamb in Western Highlands, was the Acting First Assistant Secretary for the infrastructure and Economics Division of the National Planning and Monitoring Department.
He was responsible for ensuring those project submissions for funding under the Public Improvement Program development budget to qualify for government funding. The money was discharged to Tiki Coffee Estate to rehabilitate the coffee plantation.
According to police and Task Force Sweep investigations, the plantation to date remains unattended, while two-hundred thousand kina from the funding was allegedly deposited into Sent’s company, Kajah Consultants, in May this year.
Sent has been charged with five different offenses; Official Corruption, Abuse of Office, two counts of Conspiracy to Defraud the State, two counts of Misappropriation and Money Laundering.
Sent is the second lawyer to be arrested this week, following the recent arrest of Harvey Nii. Nii was charged by the Task Force Sweep for allegedly collecting six-million kina from the Finance Department on behalf of Paul Paraka Lawyers.
Justice Minister and Attorney General Kerenga Kua said recently that many lawyers are using their skills, education, and knowledge to steal from the country.
He said these individuals lack ethical values and professional conduct to bringing serious disrepute to the legal profession.
Meanwhile, Sent was locked up at the Boroko Police cells and has been denied bail.
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