The Opposition is making a strong call to the Prime Minister to immediately establish a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to look into the recent sale of the Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited (MVIL) shares in BSP, calling also for a freeze on the proceeds of the sale. In a press conference this afternoon at the Dream Inn in Port Moresby city, the Member for Sinesine Yongomugl and outspoken Opposition member, Kerenga Kua describe the sale of MVIL shares in BSP Financial Group Limited to the Mineral Resource Development Company (MRDC) as a State sponsored crime. He continues to stress that the State does not have shareholding in the MVIL and has been illegally getting dividend from it for years. Instead, the shares in MVIL belong the motor vehicle owners. “The first question is whether the State beneficially owns all the shares in MVIL, or it owns the share in trust for the beneficiaries of the Trust?” “To act like a shareholder, and to claim dividends from a company without ever beneficially owning any shares in that company is tantamount to fraud and theft. It is a crime. It is normal to claim dividends only after you have purchased shares in that subject company as a beneficial shareholder.” “Until the question of whether the State owns shares in MVIL in its own beneficial interest or as Trustee on behalf of the beneficiaries of the trust, is a question which must be answered by an independent and competent authority.” He said the State cannot act like a beneficial shareholder and claim dividends for its own benefit from MVIL. “All the previous dividends claimed and received by the State are illegal and liable to recovery by the beneficiaries of the Trust in the future. The beneficiaries are the past and present owners of motor vehicles in PNG.” He said the proper thing to do now at this point is to park the proceeds of the sale of the shares by MVIL in an escrow account immediately and the proceeds of the sale must not be spent on any State sponsored activities as mentioned by the Minister for State Enterprises, William Duma. “I call upon BSP, if it is the bank, to independently freeze the account where the proceeds of the sale are banked. The same call goes to any other banks in which the proceeds of the sale are presently held,” Kua said. “This is because there is serious case of bank or banks knowingly (after this notice) endorsing a case of money laundering here. Kua said, "This is now a matter of public concern and publicly articulated and I am sure all the banks including BSP are aware of the controversies surrounding the legality of the share transactions." “A bank cannot properly and responsibly take a risk of transacting on those accounts whilst the controversy remains unresolved through an independent and competent authority such as a Commission of Inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act, or through the Courts in a civil action.” “This may also include any investigation to be conducted by other State authorities like the Ombudsman Commission, the Independent Commission against Corruption, and the police.”