DPP Ngakaagae criticizes DIS officers over unpaid legal fees

Ngakaagae described the officers as ungrateful for refusing to pay a heavily discounted legal bill. He and his former firm had secured tens of thousands of Pula in salary arrears for them. Ngakaagae stated that the four-year legal battle was fought largely on charity, and he had slashed his fees by 90%.

The dispute arose when DIS erroneously paid settlement monies directly to the officers instead of into the trust account of Ngakaagae and Company, leaving the firm with unrecovered costs. DIS subsequently agreed to pay the firm an equivalent sum and recover it from staff salaries, a move the officers have challenged as an unlawful intrusion into a private attorney-client relationship.