A woman from Vava‘u who embezzled over TOP$50,000 from her employer, Heilala Vanila, has been sentenced to 29 months in prison.
Luseanne Ngaluafe Fatafehi, 33, destroyed and burned records showing payments to farmers provided by a government ministry to the company.
She then created fraudulent receipts, disbursed only a portion of the farmers’ payments, and retained the remaining funds for herself.
Fatafehi pleaded guilty after being charged with theft and false accounting.
The last 17 months of her imprisonment are suspended for two years under certain conditions.
Judge Nicholas Copper, sentencing at Supreme Court, said he was unable “to determine why she committed these offences or what the money was spent on”.
According to the probation report, Fatafehi said she was driven by greed to steal the money.
The court heard Fatafehi’s actions were uncovered in 2022 after she confessed to her sister, who told the owner of Heilala Vanilla Company, Mrs Jennifer Boggiss.
The total taken by Fatafehi was $56,779.
A victim impact report was served on 22 November 2024. The effect on Boggiss, the company and family and friends of Fatafehi and the wider community have been very stark, the judgement read.
Fatafehi’s family have undertaken to repay the debt, and to date, $23,716 has been repaid. Their repayment plan has another 14 years to run.
Over the years, the Boggiss family has given loans, financial help, and payments for college fees to Fatafehi’s family.
They felt deeply and cruelly betrayed, which indeed they were.
According to the judgement, the incident struck at the heart of the Boggiss family and all the kindness they had offered Fatafehi’s family.
“For her own family this plainly was a deep blow”.
Despite the consequences, the Boggiss family “stand out as a beacon of utter decency when they beg, through the victim impact statement, for mercy for Ms. Fatafehi because of the way they want to see their local community rebuild itself”.
As part of her sentence, Fatafehi must report to probation within 24 hours of her release, complete a life skills course, and not to commit any offence punishable by imprisonment.
She is married and has four children. Her husband is not well and suffers from an unspecified condition. She is currently unemployed.
She told the probation officer she was remorseful and that she had apologised to Mrs. Boggiss.
Fatafehi cooperated with police and admitted what she had done.
