Papua New Guinea's prime minister has suggested he knows who the real beneficiaries are in a major fraud case, despite refusing to be questioned by police. Peter O'Neill welcomed this week's Supreme Court decision to discharge orders preventing anti-corruption police investigating him over his role in allegedly illegal state payments to the law firm Paraka Lawyers.An arrest warrant was issued for Peter O'Neill over two years ago in relation to the $US30 million payments. But both Mr O'Neill and his Finance Minister James Marape, who is also implicated, were able to effect stay orders preventing fraud officers from arresting or interviewing them. The prime minister has repeatedly described the case as being politically motivated and has neglected to be questioned about it, as various police and fraud squad elements pursuing his arrest have been sidelined. However while Tuesday's Court decision appeared to pave the way for the Fraud and Anti-Corruption unit's probe to resume, it was still unable to arrest the prime minister due to another judicial review related to the warrant. Yesterday, the prime minister filed another legal application for the Supreme Court to revisit this week's decision, citing a technical slip, adding yet another legal impediment to fraud squad efforts to arrest him. In his statement about the Supreme Court ruling, Mr O'Neill described it as another indication that PNG's judiciary was vibrant and independent. He reiterated that he had nothing to hide, saying he received no benefit from the payments, issues at the centre of which Mr O'Neill claimed occurred before he was prime minister. "We all know who are the real financial beneficiaries of the Paraka transactions," he said, "and only time will tell when these identities will be revealed. I look forward to the facts seeing the light of day on this issue." Peter O'Neill appealed to all citizens to remain calm, respect the rule of law, and allow the judicial process to take its course. RNZI
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