Police Commissioner, David Manning has said that the case pertaining to lawyer Paul Paraka will continue to uncover each and everyone who were involved in the whole saga that saw over K100million misappropriated.
Commissioner Manning said this when giving an update on the recent decision by the National Court on the ongoing investigations into other individuals involved in the corrupt dealings and efforts to recover misappropriated funds.
Charges of Fraud against Paul Paraka were laid in 2013 and was dismissed by the National Court with a ruling citing an abuse of process by the state in failing to provide evidence of his misdeeds.
According to the Commissioner, similar charges were laid against Paraka were also dismissed, but after 10 years of lengthy court litigation, the National Court convicted Paraka of misappropriating K162 million in public funds.
“This National Court decision now warrants and gives rise to other related matters of fraud, money laundering and misappropriation that are the subject of ongoing investigations. The Court has now ruled that there has been a treacherous and corrupt scheme to misappropriate public funds for personal use.”
He stated that the Paraka Case has attracted significant national interest, due to the large amounts of public money being misused in fraudulent dealings and the way and manner in which these funds were syphoned through the Department of Finance to various law firms, were very peculiar.
“Who would then transfer this money to Mr. Paraka himself, has been the subject of public outrage,” said the commissioner.
“The National Court decision is a matter of significant public concern, and the people of our country demand that Mr. Paraka, and all those involved in this corruption saga, are fully investigated and prosecuted.”
Citizens and officials have raised serious concerns and want justice to be served, and the recovery of this public money that should have been used for essential services such as healthcare and education.
Mr. Manning said the Paraka case has been a long saga and has been the subject of ongoing investigation to bring corrupt parties to face justice and the process is by no means complete.