Police have arrested a PNG Power Limited (PPL) employee for allegedly stealing K38, 000 from the company between 2014 and 2015.
David Bartholomew who formally worked as a senior customer service officer at the PPL Kimbe office was charged on July 2.
The offence was committed on December 2014 when the alleged employee was transferred to PPL’s Bialla office in West New Britain Province.
PPL chief executive officer Chris Bais alleged that Bartholomew, when receiving cash payments from a customer did not enter those collections into the PPL revenue system.
“PPL's internal investigators revealed that he was conspiring with a major customer, a foreigner, based in Bialla who paid the accused between K2, 000 - K3, 000 in cash monthly.
“The customer was supposed to pay more than K5, 000 to PPL however; the customer was paying less to the staff member as per their deal.
“When the customer gave him the money, the accused collected the cash and issued manual receipts to the customer and hid the receipt book.
“The receipt copies were attached to the total collection in the system but the total revenue couldn't balance in the system,” Bais said in a statement.
The accused was doing this before PPL impose a policy in December 2015 to go cashless in all centres.
“In Bialla, investigations revealed that this particular customer's bills were not posted in the revenue system and he was disconnected.
“The customer then fronted up at the office with all his receipts to prove his payments and he admitted that he was paying his bills to the accused.
Facts and evidence were established against him and he was taken into the police station for questioning on June 3 and June 23, 2016 when he escaped from the police station in Kimbe.
On June 25, 2016, he was apprehended at the PPL Training College in Port Moresby and escorted by two policemen back to Kimbe on July 1, 2016 for formal charges and arrest. "
He was officially charged and arrested on July 2, 2016 under the Criminal Code Act on abuse of public office and stealing (as a public servant).
The accused has being refused bail and held in custody and the case is now before Kimbe District Court.