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The chairman of the successful bid for Papua New Guinea\u2019s new rugby league franchise faces corruption concerns involving a Chinese company \u2013 after the Albanese government poured $600 million of taxpayers money into the scheme to ward off Beijing\u2019s influence in the Pacific.<\/p>\n
The claims involve a company owned by powerful PNG businessman Wapu Sonk, who led the Pacific Island nation\u2019s bid to join the National Rugby League and in June was appointed a director of the country\u2019s new franchise.<\/p>\n
But evidence unearthed by this masthead raises serious questions about whether Sonk sought to benefit personally from his power as the chief of PNG\u2019s national oil company.<\/p>\n
The evidence, which relates to his business dealings not the NRL bid, includes confidential documents and corporate records and links Sonk\u2019s company to suspect dealings with a massive Chinese government firm and a plot to funnel contracts to a company Sonk owns in Australia.<\/p>\n
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Wapu Sonk was a driving force behind the NRL\u2019s PNG bid.Credit: Facebook<\/p>\n
Sonk, who has refused to answer questions about the issue, is also facing scrutiny over his use of a multimillion-dollar Brisbane property owned by an Australian businessman whose firm has been awarded lucrative contracts by the top oil company which Sonk heads.<\/p>\n
Sonk has been heralded as a central player in the NRL expansion deal<\/a> announced in December by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese alongside his PNG counterpart, James Marape, that will see the team join the competition in 2028.<\/p>\n Labor has committed $600 million in taxpayer funding to finance the deal, with the funds to be spent mostly in PNG with the guidance of Sonk and his fellow directors and oversight from the Australian Rugby League Commission.<\/p>\n The Albanese government has backed the deal as a means of countering China\u2019s strategic, security and economic influence in PNG \u2013 a fact which raises further questions about Sonk\u2019s company\u2019s dealings with a Beijing-backed firm.<\/p>\n PNG Prime Minister James Marape and Australian PM Anthony Albanese announcing the PNG NRL team.Credit: Kate Geraghty<\/p>\n Sonk\u2019s power and influence \u2013 and the reason he became a key player in the NRL deal \u2013 flow from his position as the head of PNG\u2019s biggest company, the state-owned national oil company, Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited.<\/p>\n If Sonk sought to use Kumul Petroleum to cut deals with a Chinese government entity in order to personally profit, it would involve precisely the type of dealmaking the Albanese government was seeking to counter when it inked the deal it negotiated with Sonk to expand the NRL into Port Moresby.<\/p>\n The multibillion-dollar company is responsible for boosting PNG\u2019s economic and social welfare via its mandated stake in key energy projects.<\/p>\n Sonk has helmed Kumul Petroleum as managing director for 10 years, giving him huge political and business sway as well as influence over overseas companies chasing contracts in PNG.<\/p>\n Kumul Petroleum\u2019s long-standing funding of rugby league in PNG has made Sonk into a kingmaker in the local sport landscape.<\/p>\n The corruption concerns involve Kumul Petroleum\u2019s $30 million project to build new oil tank facilities at a key PNG international port, the Motukea Main Wharf.<\/p>\n The fuel tank project at Motukea.<\/p>\n In 2024, the Sonk-led Kumul Petroleum awarded the contract to a Chinese Communist Party-controlled firm involved in mega projects around the world, the China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation.<\/p>\n In December, Sonk told the PNG press that Kumul Petroleum was spending \u201csignificant\u201d funds on the project to \u201cput in place critical infrastructure … which is so important for our economy and development as a country\u201d.<\/p>\n But a leaked Kumul Petroleum letter suggests Sonk may have also been seeking to benefit himself.<\/p>\n The letter, obtained by this masthead, details a demand from Kumul Petroleum \u2013 on its official letterhead \u2013 to the China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation.<\/p>\n The March 12 letter tells the Chinese-government firm that Kumul expected it to hire two \u201cdesignated\u201d Australian companies in order to carry out the port project and that this is in keeping with a \u201cprior agreement\u201d extracted by Kumul Petroleum during its negotiations with the Beijing company.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would like to formally confirm that, as previously discussed and agreed upon, the renovation and upgrade work at Motukea Main Wharf of PNG Motukea Fuel Facility Project shall be carried out by the designated companies,\u201d the Kumul Petroleum letter states.<\/p>\n The request from Kumul Petroleum to the Chinese government contractor contains a veiled commercial threat that if it did not hire the \u201cdesignated\u201d Australian companies, it might jeopardise its relationship with PNG\u2019s national oil company.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kindly request your cooperation in ensuring that the execution of these works aligns with our prior agreements. Any deviation from the agreed-upon plan could potentially impact the project\u2019s overall success and our collaborative efforts,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n Missing from the letter is a key detail: one of the two \u201cdesignated\u201d companies put forward in Kumul Petroleum\u2019s letter of demand, PNG Developments Pty Ltd, is privately owned in Australia by Wapu Sonk.<\/p>\n \u201cSpecifically, the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) work shall be executed by PNG Developments PTY LTD,\u201d the Kumul Petroleum letter states without disclosing that the Australian firm\u2019s sole shareholder is Sonk.<\/p>\n The second designated firm is FSB Consulting, which this masthead has confirmed is owned by one of Sonk\u2019s senior employees at Kumul Petroleum, Australian-born Jason Pollock.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Project Management Consultancy (PMC) work shall be handled by FSB Consulting Pty Ltd,\u201d states the March 2025 letter, which is signed by Pollock is his capacity as \u201cProjects Director: Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited\u201d.<\/p>\n As is the case with Sonk\u2019s private firm, there is no mention in the Kumul Petroleum letter that Pollock owns FSB.<\/p>\n Called this week, Pollock denied knowing his boss, Sonk, was the owner of PNG Developments Pty Ltd.<\/p>\n \u201cI would find it hard to believe that Sonk owns that company,\u201d Pollock said. \u201cThat would surprise me \u2026 I\u2019m quite taken back (sic) by that suggestion.\u201d<\/p>\n When later sent a shareholding document by this masthead that proved Sonk\u2019s ownership of the firm, Pollock responded with an emoji of an angry red face swearing.<\/p>\n When Pollock was pressed as to why he wrote to the Chinese in March instructing them to use PNG Developments Pty Ltd if he did not know who owned it, he said: \u201cI can\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said he could \u201cnot remember\u201d who directed him to nominate PNG Developments Pty Ltd as one of the two firms the Chinese government company was expected to use, but suggested it may have been a senior engineer working for the Chinese Communist Party-controlled corporation.<\/p>\n Pressed about the seeming promotion of his privately owned firm, Pollock said it \u201clooks stinky\u201d and was a \u201cconflict of interest\u201d.<\/p>\n Pollock claimed he had \u201cretracted\u201d the Kumul Petroleum letter of demand after: \u201cI saw the error of my ways.\u201d<\/p>\n Pollock also claimed he had personally discussed the letter with Sonk and that Sonk had warned him about conflicts of interest, albeit while never revealing his ownership of PNG Developments Pty Ltd.<\/p>\n Pollock insisted he was not a friend of Sonk, who Pollock called \u201cthe big fella\u201d.<\/p>\n But he said he had travelled to a Chinese energy conference in Beijing with Sonk in May as part of a delegation including senior PNG politicians. Pollock had also travelled to Shanghai with Sonk on a separate trip, he said.<\/p>\n Pollock said during an interview that he was \u201chappy\u201d for any allegations of wrongdoing linked to the port deal \u201cto be investigated\u201d.<\/p>\n Sonk was sent detailed questions on Tuesday, including whether he had any knowledge of, or involvement in, sending the letter, but declined to answer them.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are serious questions and I prefer a lawyer to speak to you on my behalf,\u201d Sonk said in a message on Tuesday.<\/p>\n He did not respond further, although his lawyers on Wednesday wrote to this masthead saying: \u201cOur client denies any and all allegations of improper or unlawful conduct that you assert.\u201d<\/p>\n There is no suggestion by this masthead that Sonk directed Pollock to send the letter to the Chinese firm, only that the circumstances of the letter warrant further scrutiny because of Sonk\u2019s ownership of PNG Developments.<\/p>\n There is no evidence that the two firms privately owned by Sonk or Pollock ever actually received any funds or contracts from the Chinese company.<\/p>\n An Australian government spokesman said it had zero tolerance for corruption and any allegations of corrupt behaviour should be referred to appropriate authorities.<\/p>\n The spokesman, in a statement, said the agreements between the government, the ARL Commission and PNG\u2019s NRL franchise had \u201cstrong anti-fraud and corruption protections\u201d.<\/p>\n ARL Commission chairman Peter V\u2019landys said he had not previously heard any adverse allegations about Wapu Sonk.Credit: Kate Geraghty<\/p>\n ARL Commission chairman Peter V\u2019landys said he had not previously heard any adverse allegations about Sonk and that the league would be guided by \u201cany court case which tests these allegations\u201d.<\/p>\n Sonk also declined to answer questions about his use of a multimillion-dollar Brisbane home owned by an Australian businessman whose company has won contracts from Kumul Petroleum.<\/p>\n Corporate records reveal that Hamid Ronagh is the part owner \u2013 via a company \u2013 of the Indooroopilly property used by Sonk and one of his close associates, a PNG woman, to register companies and also to live in.<\/p>\n The house in Brisbane that the owner says is tenanted to Wapu Sonk.Credit: Dan Peled<\/p>\n Ronagh\u2019s Australian firm, Neobuild, has won contracts in PNG awarded by Kumul Petroleum.<\/p>\n Pollock told this masthead that Neobuild had won a large contract on the Motukea wharf project.<\/p>\n Ronagh confirmed to this masthead that Sonk was renting his Brisbane property.<\/p>\n But Ronagh did not respond to a request to provide evidence that Sonk had paid to use the property and did not respond to questions about whether the arrangement was appropriate given Neobuild\u2019s commercial dealings with Kumul Petroleum.<\/p>\n Sonk also did not respond to questions about why he was using the Brisbane property and the extent, if any, of his private dealings with Ronagh.<\/p>\n This masthead is not suggesting that Ronagh has provided inducements to Sonk, or that Sonk has sought them.<\/p>\n Rather, the apparent private commercial relationship between the pair raises questions about conflicts of interest that remain unanswered given the pair\u2019s failure to answer questions.<\/p>\n A woman leaving the property this week.Credit: Dan Peled<\/p>\n While Sonk\u2019s involvement in suspect dealings in his capacity as national oil company chief do not extend to his role leading PNG\u2019s rugby league bid, they do raise questions about his ongoing role as director of PNG\u2019s new NRL franchise.<\/p>\n Sonk was a VIP guest of the NRL in Australia when the new team was announced and gave interviews to Australian reporters claiming the new franchise would sign up one million members, or more than the rest of the competition teams combined.<\/p>\n One league reporter wrote that the PNG NRL deal had transformed Sonk into \u201cone of the game\u2019s most powerful figures\u201d.<\/p>\n Sonk is one of seven directors variously nominated by the ARL commission<\/a> and PNG government to the board that will oversee the addition of a new team to the NRL competition in 2028.<\/p>\n V\u2019landys said Sonk was among the selections of the PNG government, while the commission\u2019s nominations included chairman and Canterbury Bulldogs powerbroker Ray Dib.<\/p>\n He said the commission conducted background checks on nominated directors.<\/p>\n The NRL agreed to the historic expansion into PNG at the behest of Albanese, who was eager to deliver it as a boost to Marape to shore up security ties with Australia\u2019s closest neighbour and ward off China\u2019s efforts to further its influence in the Pacific.<\/p>\n Of the $600 million committed by the Albanese government over 10 years, $290 million will go towards the establishment and operation of the PNG team, with $250 million channelled into the development of rugby league in the Pacific and $60 million to be divided between existing NRL clubs as a licence fee.<\/p>\n As an added layer of oversight, the commission will be responsible overseeing the distribution of the $600 million of taxpayer funds.<\/p>\n However, there have been concerns that the PNG deal would inevitably be exposed to governance risks given that corruption is endemic in the Pacific.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s in this type of corrupted environment that you\u2019re going to be exposed to these kind of situations,\u201d one observer said.<\/p>\n A second source with deep connections into the federal government and the NRL said the NRL-PNG deal was always a bad idea given the potential for it to fuel corruption.<\/p>\n A third source, a senior official in PNG, said the Australian government funds were \u201cbetter spent on health and education\u201d.<\/p>\n Sonk\u2019s lawyers said their client\u2019s role as a director of the new PNG-NRL franchise was appropriate.<\/p>\n \u201cOur client is one member of a board of directors of the proposed franchisee. That board comprises a group of highly experienced and well-regarded individuals (including retired professional NRL players) that collectively bring significant expertise to their oversight responsibilities, and decisions are made through proper and robust governance processes,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n The Australian government\u2019s bankrolling of rugby league in the Pacific has alarmed rugby union chiefs<\/a> in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, who have formed new links with China amid concerns that their national game could be cannibalised by a foreign taxpayer-backed rival code.<\/p>\n![\"PNG](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ab99076eb4602909def8b81e5ff180425997ee0f.jpeg\")
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