The trial of the Minister of Infrastructure and Tourism Akosita Lavulavu and her disgraced husband ‘Etuate Lavulavu began yesterday Monday 12 as prosecutors try to prove the couple knowingly dealt with forged documents and obtaining credit by false pretenses.
The trial arises from an investigation of the government grants intended to top up private and church schools teachers’ salaries.
The amount of money granted to each school was based on the number of students being enrolled.
As Kaniva news previously reported, the Auditor General’s office claimed hundreds of students supposedly attending the Unuaki ‘o Tonga Royal Institute could not be identified and that the Institute should repay TP$553,800 to the Technical Vocational Education and Training fund (TVET).
‘Etuate was the president of the school while Akosita was the director. They previously denied all charges.
The nation has been waiting five years for the case since the couple was first arrested on March 2016.
It has been delayed several times before the Lord Chief Justice ruled earlier this year that the case must be heard in court yesterday, April 12.
Akosita was dismissed from cabinet in April 2018 as a result of her charges but she was reappointed by the Tu’ionetoa government.
Yesterday she has been criticised for reinstating the Tonga Tourism Authority board with a budget of $1.5 million while it was clear that international travel will not resume anytime soon. Critics believed the move was a waste of money because tourism in the kingdom is being crippled by the impacts of COVID-19.
Separate fraud charge
Last week, the couple appeared at the Magistrate Court on separate charges after their land lord in Vava’u filed a lawsuit accusing the Lavulavus of allegedly forging a letter on his behalf telling the Ministry of Lands and Survey he allegedly agreed to allow ‘Etuate to quarry rocks on his land.
The Magistrate court has yet to decide on that court case.
The political engineer
‘Etuate publicly claimed the current government of Tu’i’onetoa managed to topple the former PTOA government because of a successful political campaign he engineered. He was later referred to by his critics as an “engineer”.
He was the mouthpiece of the Prime Minister he has his own newspaper and radio station in which he uses to attack the government’s critics.
He has been accused of overstepping his political roles outside government and attempted to interfere with the Prime Minister’s office.
He was the deputy chairman of Tonga People’s Party. Prime Minister Tu’i’onetoa is the Chairman.
The Lavulavus were under pressure recently after calls for Akosita to resign over her court cases.
Controversial backgrounds
‘Etuate Lavulavu is no stranger to courts, controversy or convictions.
In 2003 he was arrested by the FBI while trying to board a flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. He was charged with falsifying immigration papers for Tongans to become American Citizens as part of a scam carried out with his brother. He pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal use of a birth certificate, but only had to pay costs.
In 2004 he began referring to himself as “professor” and said he had a doctorate from an American institution, which turned out to be a notorious “mail order” university which essentially sells degrees.
The Director of Education said at the time that the Ministry did not recognise his “professorship.”
In 2016 Tonga’s Supreme Court convicted him of bribery and spending over the legal limit on his 2014 election campaign.
The judge said Lavulavu was not a credible witness and that his evidence was implausible, evasive and untruthful.
As a result of his conviction he was kicked out of Parliament. His wife Akosita won the by-election in his electorate.
In a case in 2000, Lavulavu was sued by the Late Prince Tu’ipelehake for damages and unlawful cultivation of his land. In his summing up of the trial, Lord Chief Justice Ward said Lavulavu “was willing to say almost anything that seemed to suit the moment with a repeated disregard for the truth.”
Last year the Supreme Court ordered ‘Akosita to pay the plaintiffs’ costs after Lord Chief Justice Whitten quashed her decision to deny their whale watching and swimming licences.
Mr Whitten said the Minister’s decisions were infected by errors of law.
