ELUDEME AND MALADINA NO LONGER PROTECTED BY O'NEILL'S FIREWALL - RATTLES INSIDE PNC COALITION

by MICHAEL PASSINGAN

One of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s movers and shakers in the Defence Force land fraud, and many others, is accountant Phillip Eludeme. Eludeme, chairman of the Central Supply and Tenders Board, has now been suspended by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill over his role in the corrupt purchase of land at Manumanu, Central Province.

It was always an obvious suspension, given that Eludeme was directly involved in the fraud and benefitted personally. But, mysteriously, he was not one of the victims of O’Neill’s first response to the scandal when he made scapegoats of Defence Minister Fabian Pok, Public Enterprise Minister William Duma, and a range of senior officials. It was as if Phillip Eludeme, fixer and facilitator for O’Neill and his criminal crony Jimmy Maladina, did not exist on Monday when O’Neill provided details of his fake inquiry. Yet Eludeme has been named as receiving a kickback of K8.5 million from the Manumanu fraud.

He also benefited directly as director of and shareholder in Flystone Amusements Ltd, one of the companies that purportedly sold land to the State for the Defence Force Relocation. As chairman of CSTB, this is a clear conflict of interest, apart from any other criminality occasioned by his involvement in the the Manumanu scandal. The reason O’Neill did not act against Eludeme on Monday is that he is a front man for both him and his long-time partner in crime, Jimmy Maladina. Eludeme has been a behind-the-scenes actor for both O’Neill and Maladina for many years. He was a central figure acting for both in the National Provident Fund fraud of the late 1990s.

His primary role was as a go-between and fixer in the Deloitte Tower and Waigani land scandals, including helping O’Neill and Maladina bribe then Lands Minister Fabian Pok. Eludeme enabled O’Neill and Maladina to benefit by many millions of kina from the NPF fraud including through an IPA-registered company, Waim Number 92. According to the NPF Commission of Inquiry, Maladina was the “secret owner of this company, the shares of which he initially owned through his wife Janet Karl, and Eludeme. Ms Karl’s share was later transferred to Phillip Mamando who resided at the Maladina residence”. Maladina and Eludeme have in turn been O’Neill’s front men in many corrupt transactions, not just the Waigani land deal.

These two and other cronies have also been key players in scandals such as the Paga Hill land grab, a number of illegal SABLs, the UBS loan and Parakagate. They have remained O’Neill’s loyal and well-paid servants right up until this week. Now rumors abound that O’Neill has fallen out with Maladina, heightened by the public appearance of the Prime Minister with his hand in bandages. The new suspensions and the cancellation of the Leaders’ Summit yesterday highlight the chaos in the PNC coalition following O’Neill’s betrayal of Pok and Duma to protect himself. Minor party and regional faction leaders and their representatives have been actively canvassing the possibility of withdrawing from the Coalition, including many Papuan MPs.

There is talk of other reprisals against the Prime Minister. The internal fighting and political back-biting may yet explode, so hold on to your hats – this scandal has a long way to go.

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