Australia's President Siphons Off Millions from Taxpayer Funding for Pacific Detention Centre
A scathing report by Australia's financial intelligence agency has accused Nauru President David Adeang of siphoning off millions of dollars in taxpayer funding meant for the country's troubled offshore detention regime. The revelation comes just as the Australian government was set to sign a $2.5 billion deal with Adeang to deport hundreds of asylum seekers.
According to an Austrac report read into the Senate by Greens Senator David Shoebridge, suspicious transactions totaling over $3 million were detected between 2020 and 2017 involving Adeang and his associates. The report alleges that these transactions involved money laundering and corruption, with some linked to a Brisbane-based firm contracted by the Australian government to run its offshore detention center on Nauru.
The Austrac report also implicated Lionel Aingimea, then-president of Nauru, now foreign minister, in suspicious financial activity involving his family and associates. The transactions, which took place over nine months, involved millions of dollars in credits and debits, with some linked to a company called 1402 LRC Car Rentals and Construction, which held subcontracts with the Australian government's major contractor, Canstruct International.
Canstruct made billions of dollars from its offshore processing contracts despite being accused of corruption and abuse. The Guardian has contacted Canstruct for comment but received no response.
The Australian government's secrecy over its dealings with Nauru has raised consistent criticism, particularly when it comes to its offshore detention arrangements. The government has refused to disclose details of the $2.5 billion deal signed with Adeang or its offshore processing contract worth nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars with a US private prisons operator.
The report's revelations have sparked calls for action against what critics see as "cruel and corrupt" offshore detention arrangements. Greens Senator Shoebridge has accused the Australian government of knowingly signing deals with individuals suspected of corruption, and warned that corruption breeds in secrecy.
A scathing report by Australia's financial intelligence agency has accused Nauru President David Adeang of siphoning off millions of dollars in taxpayer funding meant for the country's troubled offshore detention regime. The revelation comes just as the Australian government was set to sign a $2.5 billion deal with Adeang to deport hundreds of asylum seekers.
According to an Austrac report read into the Senate by Greens Senator David Shoebridge, suspicious transactions totaling over $3 million were detected between 2020 and 2017 involving Adeang and his associates. The report alleges that these transactions involved money laundering and corruption, with some linked to a Brisbane-based firm contracted by the Australian government to run its offshore detention center on Nauru.
The Austrac report also implicated Lionel Aingimea, then-president of Nauru, now foreign minister, in suspicious financial activity involving his family and associates. The transactions, which took place over nine months, involved millions of dollars in credits and debits, with some linked to a company called 1402 LRC Car Rentals and Construction, which held subcontracts with the Australian government's major contractor, Canstruct International.
Canstruct made billions of dollars from its offshore processing contracts despite being accused of corruption and abuse. The Guardian has contacted Canstruct for comment but received no response.
The Australian government's secrecy over its dealings with Nauru has raised consistent criticism, particularly when it comes to its offshore detention arrangements. The government has refused to disclose details of the $2.5 billion deal signed with Adeang or its offshore processing contract worth nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars with a US private prisons operator.
The report's revelations have sparked calls for action against what critics see as "cruel and corrupt" offshore detention arrangements. Greens Senator Shoebridge has accused the Australian government of knowingly signing deals with individuals suspected of corruption, and warned that corruption breeds in secrecy.
This is getting out of hand, Australia's got to get its act together on this whole Pacific Detention Centre thing 
Can't believe Nauru's president is involved in all this shady stuff and the Aussies are still going ahead with the deal 
What's really going on here? Who benefits from this corruption? The fact that Canstruct made billions off their contracts while being accused of corruption just shows how messed up it is 
And now the Aussie government wants to sign more deals with Nauru? It's like they're trying to sweep this under the rug 
. And now the report says Adeang and his associates were involved in money laundering? It's like they're playing a bad game of cat and mouse 
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. The gov's secrecy is just enabling this corruption to keep going 
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this is wild. i mean i knew australia had some sketchy dealings going on with nauru but siphoning off millions from taxpayer funding is a whole different story. what's the point of all this? just to keep the offshore detention center open and profitable for canstruct? it's like they're more interested in lining their own pockets than actually helping people who are seeking asylum. 
I mean, we've seen some shady dealings go down in Canberra over the years and it's no surprise that some Aussie politician would try to siphon off taxpayer cash for personal gain 
Austrac report is all over it and theres proof of money laundering & corruption. cant believe Aussie gov is signing deal w/ him 2 deport asylum seekers. 
. And now we're talking about money laundering and corruption? It's like, the Aus gov't is literally signing deals with people who might be corrupt? What's good with that? 
million dollars is a lot of money but millions of human lives are worth way more. 
we need to ask ourselves why governments think they're above the law when it comes to corruption. 
and what's up with this secrecy surrounding deals with Nauru? isn't transparency supposed to be a thing? 
the fact that millions are being siphoned off to nauru while ppl are stuck in detention centres is just horrific. and now we find out that the company running these centres, canstruct, is making billions of dollars from this corruption? it's unbelievable 
. aussie govts need to get their act together and stop being so secretive about their dealings with nauru. we deserve better 
. gotta keep pushing for change 
That just feels so wrong. And what about the Australians who are affected by these policies? Do they get any say in how their tax dollars are being used? 
The Aussie government needs to get its act together and be more transparent about their dealings with Nauru. It's not fair to the taxpayers who are footing the bill for this mess!