The Supreme Court has found a woman not guilty of making a false declaration to obtain a passport.
Lord Chief Justice Whitten, presiding, said the case appeared to be at the tail end of the Chinese passport scandal.
Mrs. ‘Ileana Suliana Taulua, pleaded not guilty to five counts of making a false declaration for the purpose of obtaining a passport.
Taulua was employed by the Tonga Police Force from 1972 until 2005, firstly in the immigration division of the police and then in the ministerial wing at the police headquarters as second in charge of the special passport and naturalization unit where she had access to the issue of Tonga National Passports and Tonga Protected Persons
In early October 2012, one ‘Isapela Satua Tu’akoi asked her to complete an affidavit in support of a passport application for one Shawei Hu. The Accused agreed and completed an affidavit and handled it to Tu’akoi.
In January 2013, Tu’akoi again asked Taulua to complete affidavits in support of passport applications for Singkei Lou and Shanoi Kam.
In April 2013, Tu’akoi again asked the accused to complete an affidavit in support of a passport application for Orlandoni Wong.
That affidavit was sworn on 18 April 2014 and handed to
In August 2013, Tu’akoi again approached Taulua and asked her to complete an affidavit in support of a passport application for one Guang Chang Xiao.
In his summary of the case, Lord Chief Justice Whitten said all five applications were approved and the five applicants were issued Tongan passports in the names set out above.
The passport applications and supporting affidavits were sent to New Zealand to be examined by a handwriting expert. These included photocopies of what were purported to be previous passports, which the expert witness concluded had been faked.
However, he said that without specialised knowledge and equipment, a layperson would not be able to identify the photocopies as fraudulent.
In her evidence, Taulua said she had been approached by Tu’akoi from as early as 2010. She was approached at a time and in circumstances where she said she had been given a letter by the then CEO for Foreign Affairs, the late Ms Susana Faletau, the effect of which was requesting her to help confirm previous passports that had been issued during the time she was working in the division and which she had actually prepared.
The passports were submitted with their file to the police commander who checked the entitlement of the applicants for the Tongan passport. After that, each passport was signed by the then Minister of Police.
Taulua said each of the photocopies of previous passports was given to her by Tu’akoi. There was no evidence that she created any of the photocopies. There was no evidence that the Accused ever tampered with any parts of genuine passports or produced the fakes.
Taulua’s evidence that she did not receive any payment from Tu’akoi for her help was not challenged.
Lord Chief Justice Whitten said that the fact that all applicants were Chinese was consistent with “an era within this country starting from a Royal prerogative to grant passports to non-Tongan nationals upon payment of considerable sums of money.”
“That era unfolded into one in which renewals of those passports has caused significant concerns. This case, like that of R v Lord Tu’ivakano, appears to be now be part of (and perhaps at the tail end) the investigations into those concerns.”
Taulua was acquitted on all charges.
