IB2014/7 Fake Money, Bougainville Politics and International Scammers

On Saturday 16 February 2014, Barry Webb, an American citizen, was detained as he entered Port Moresby from the Philippines. He was travelling to Bougainville to deliver a briefcase full of newly minted 'Bougainville kina' or 'BVK'. This pseudocurrency is not legal tender in Bougainville (or anywhere else). Rather, the Bougainville kina is the creation of the U-Vistract scam, an elaborate Ponzi scheme (Cox 2013). When questioned by Papua New Guinea authorities, Webb claimed to represent the 'International Organisation for Economic Development' ('IOED'), a fictitious organisation with a name clearly intended to recall the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Webb produced a letter from the founder of U-Vistract, Noah Musingku, who now represents himself as 'King David Pei II' of the 'Royal Kingdom of Papala', a pseudo-state based in south Bougainville. According to the letter, Webb had been appointed as the Kingdom of Papala's 'Minister for International Monetary Relations' (Post-Courier 2014).