Former Papua New Guinea prime minister charged with perjury over inquiry into losing investment deal

CANBERRA, Australia — Former Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill was charged on Monday with providing false evidence in an inquiry into a multi-million-dollar government loss on an investment deal.

O’Neill, who remains a lawmaker in the Pacific island nation’s parliament, denied the three charges lodged by police that stem from when he was the government’s leader in 2014.

O’Neill’s government obtained a 1.3 billion Australian dollar ($878 million) loan through the Swiss-based investment bank UBS to buy a 10.1% stake in the Australian stock exchange-listed energy exploration company Oil Search Ltd.

The government eventually sold its stake at a loss and a three-year inquiry into the deal culminated this year in a recommendation of charges against O’Neill for providing false testimony. Each charge carries a potential prison sentence of 14 years.

O’Neill, who was replaced by current Prime Minister James Marape in 2019, denied giving false evidence to the UBS Commission of Inquiry during testimony twice in 2021 and once last year.

“As far as I know ... I did not mislead the Commission of Inquiry. But we will test this in court,” O’Neill told reporters in the capital, Port Moresby.

“This is all part of the game that they are playing to try and intimidate me and harass me,” O’Neill added, referring to his political opponents.

Marape, who was finance minister in O’Neill’s government when the shares were bought, said the losses exceeded AU$340 million ($230 million).

Police Commissioner David Manning said O'Neill came to police headquarters as requested on Monday and was released on bail after being charged.

“This is the first arrest following on from the findings of the Commission of Inquiry and it will by no means be the last,” Manning said in a statement.