Australian Greg Sheppard's law firm says charges over PNG mine fund are 'politically motivated'
Police allege 268m kina was misappropriated from the Western Province People’s Dividends Community Mine Continuation Agreement (WPPD CMCA) trust fund and improperly paid into the accounts of the Ok Tedi Fly River Development Foundation (OTFRDF) and Sheppard’s law firm. The trust fund was established with profits from the Ok Tedi mine to fund development projects, such as roads, schools and health clinics for villages in Western Province impacted by the mine. When BHP built Ok Tedi on difficult mountainous terrain near PNG’s border with Indonesia in 1984, it did not construct a tailings ...