Con man 'king' dies in his self-declared Pacific kingdom

One of the South Pacific's most infamous con men, Noah Musingku, has died in his self-declared kingdom in the south of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.

Musingku fleeced millions of dollars from people in PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Australia and elsewhere from the late 1990s through his Ponzi scheme U-Vistract, before fleeing authorities to his hometown of Tonu where he declared himself King Peii II of Papaala.

A death notice posted on the Bougainville Independence Movement Facebook page said Musingku died last week from "an illness he has fought over for more than three weeks".

A later post showed pictures of what was said to be his burial, with men dressed in military fatigues burying a coffin as a small crowd watched on.

"It's confirmed," said Timothy Masiu, the member for South Bougainville in PNG's national parliament. 

"He died … and they kept his body for three days and then they decided to lay him to rest on Saturday.

"I am sad to hear of his passing because he is from my electorate and he was my schoolmate.

"His passing brings mixed feelings throughout Bougainville. Everybody has their own dreams and Noah had his dream and I think if he did it the right way, that dream would have come true for him."

'There goes my money'

Musingku's death brings to a close one of the region's most extraordinary, high-profile financial scams.

He started U-Vistract in PNG's capital Port Moresby in the late 1990s, promising investors 100 per cent interest per month.

As with all successful Ponzi schemes the first investors did receive those returns and word spread prompting thousands more to hand over millions of dollars.

Musingku even managed to open a branch of his Royal Reserve Bank of Papaala near the headquarters of the Bank of PNG, the country's central bank.

When authorities eventually moved to shut down his operation, he shifted to Solomon Islands before returning to his home village of Tonu, where he declared himself King Peii II and formed an armed militia to keep the law and disgruntled investors at bay.

Bougainvillean journalist Gorethy Kenneth invested in U-Vistract back in 1998 with money her parents had given her to pay university fees.

"I learned that he passed away and I said, 'There goes my money,'"

she said.

But she also felt sadness on hearing of Musingku's death after speaking to him recently about organising an interview.

"He sounded more like he needed to change his life, like he wanted to, but he didn't know how to do it," she said.

"He needed help."

'There is no big pot of money'

The notice that announced Musingku's death also said, "All clients will be paid for all the investments they have invested in all our investment programs."

Anthony Regan, a constitutional lawyer at the Australian National University and a long-time adviser to the Autonomous Bougainville Government, said any investors hoping for a payout would be disappointed.

"The money's all been eaten up and he never had large amounts of money,"

Dr Regan said.

"Like any Ponzi scheme, you only have the revenue that you're pulling in from investors and if you're not paying out, the money doesn't come in and he hasn't been able to pay out really since the late 90s."

Dr Regan has watched Musingku's journey closely and said it was hard to predict what his followers in Tonu would do next and what would happen to the guns held by his militia.

"Nobody really knows outside what the leadership structures are, if any, and what continuity there will be," Dr Regan said.