He declared himself "king", created a pyramid and extorted millions. The Oceania fraudster is dead

The political party Bougainville Independence Movement announced the death of the fraudster. "His Majesty the Emperor, King David Peii II died on Monday, October 12, 2026, at 10:00 p.m. This happened after a battle with illness that lasted over three weeks," said the announcement published three days ago. Photos from the ceremony show that the man was buried with honors, assisted by armed rebels loyal to Musingku.

An organization associating journalists from around the world - Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project - reports that Musingku was accused of extorting tens of millions of dollars from victims in the Oceania region. Obtaining such large amounts was possible thanks to U-Vistract - a financial pyramid he created. Musingku promised investors a monthly interest of 100 percent. invested amount. As with other successful pyramid schemes, the early investors actually received these profits, and word spread, prompting thousands more to contribute millions of dollars.

When the fraud was discovered in the early 2000s, Musingku fled to his home island of Bougainville. It is worth emphasizing that this was a time when Bougainville was just recovering from a decade-long civil war. The inhabitants of the island fought for independence. Today, Bougainville is an autonomous province of Papua New Guinea.

Musingku's followers believed that he would make them all rich and usher in a golden era of world peace and prosperity. One of such people was a journalist living on the island - Gorethy Kenneth. In 1998, she invested the money that her parents gave her to pay her tuition fees in U-Vistract. I found out he died and I thought: My money won't come back either - she said in an ABC Australia interview. Musingku's death also upset her because she had recently spoken to the man about a planned interview.

He sounded like he needed a change in his life, like he wanted it but didn't know how. He needed help, she said.

Own currency and armed groups

After returning to the island, Musingku appointed himself King David Peii II, ruler of the twin kingdoms of Papaala and Me'ekamui. The group of people who believed in his leadership was so large that he managed to create a pseudo-state with its own armed militia, banking system and local currency known as Bougainville Kina (BVK). The government of Papua New Guinea later declared it illegal.

In 2026, Musingku survived an attack by militants linked to the legally recognized Bougainville government of former rebels. Four of Musingku's bodyguards were killed in the attack, and he only suffered a gunshot wound to the neck.

A 2025 OCCRP journalistic investigation showed that already in the 21st century, Musingku had built a global group of supporters, both among the local population and Western supporters of conspiracy theories and "sovereign citizens" - members of the anti-government social movement that grew out of American anti-tax movements and radical and racist anti-state organizations of the 1960s and 1970s.

“All the money has already been spent.”

The announcement regarding Musingku's death said that "all customers will be refunded for all the investments they have made in all investment schemes." However, in an interview with ABC Australia, Anthony Regan, a long-time advisor to the Autonomous Government of Bougainville, said that people hoping for a refund have no hope.

"All the money has already been spent, and he never had large amounts of money at his disposal. As in any Ponzi scheme, you only have the income obtained from investors, and if you don't pay out funds, no new funds come in. Musingku hasn't really been able to pay out profits from investments since the late 1990s," he said.

Dr. Regan noted that it is difficult to say what the "king's" supporters will do now and what will happen to the armed groups that accompanied him. No one from the outside really knows what the leadership structure looks like, if it exists at all, or what the future continuity of operations will look like, he said.

Musingku's death came despite the belief of some of his followers that he would reign for a thousand years. He was reportedly around 60 years old.