A jury has been discharged in the trial of five co-accused over a stabbing murder in Sydney’s southwest after the victim was seen with “wads of cash” on a Tinder date.
Bilal Rahim, Joseph Nehme, Viliami Taufahema, Sherene Rizk and Lisa Anne Price were facing a NSW Supreme Court trial over the death of Luke Lembryk in the early hours of December 7, 2019, at the unit he shared with his mother in Condell Park.
Jurors were sent home on Friday after a High Court decision on a South Australian case, handed down two days earlier, radically changed national law regarding joint criminal enterprise and constructive murder.
“I think it is very difficult to resist a reading of (the judgment) to the effect that the combination of extended joint criminal enterprise at common law and constructive murder has been abolished, not just in South Australia, but throughout Australia, for all purposes,” Justice Richard Button wrote.
If the trial were to continue, the only basis for which crown prosecutors had run their case against the five co-accused no longer existed in Australia, the judge said.
In its decision, the High Court overturned convictions for Ben Mitchell, Alfred Rigney, Matt Tenhoopen and Aaron Carver.
The four men had previously been found guilty of the bashing murder of Albanian refugee Urim Gjabri while stealing cannabis at his Adelaide premises.
In the NSW Supreme Court case, which began on February 28, Rahim, Nehme, Taufahema and Price pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, while Rizk fought a charge of being an accessory before the fact.
Mr Lembryk was pronounced dead at the scene about 2.45am on December 7, having suffered stab wounds to his heart, arm, leg and finger.
Rahim, Nehme and Taufahema allegedly went to the unit to do the “Condell Park job”, with “specific guidance” to find the residence given via telephone by Price, who had previously been there and saw wads of cash, after initially connecting with Mr Lembryk via Tinder.
Residents living in villages and towns in the Tongatapu 8 district are eagerly awaiting the beginning of the construction of the Fanga’uta Lagoon Bridge.
The government previously said the building of the 720m bridge was set for completion by 2024.
The massive USD$55 million development project was funded by the Asian Development Bank.
The plan was designed by the Japanese company Chodai.
The bridge would connect the eastern side of Tongatapu and capital Nuku’alofa through Folaha village to ‘Umusī at Ma’ufanga.
The Minister for Infrastructure said the construction bid was just completed.
He said the construction was expected to start in July or next year.
The Minister was responding to a question raised in Parliament by the Tt8 MP Sione Taione.
Hon Taione said his residents had been anxious to know when the construction would start.
He said the locals wanted to prepare entertainments for the day as well as some business owners were interested in the area.
The Tongan government has lifted its ban which prohibited bringing of vehicles 15 years and older into the country.
The prohibition was introduced by the former government under the Customs and Excise Management Act Order 2021.
It said: “Lists of Prohibited Imports”
“Vehicles principally designed for transport of persons, under tariff heading 8703 with model year equal to or more than 15 years from the date of import.”
The ban was imposed with a forfeiture and penalties enforcement which took effect on May 3 that year.
The repeal was announced by the Ministry of Revenue and Customs yesterday.
“The Ministry of Revenue and Customs wishes to notify members of the public that after much consideration and consultation with Cabinet, a decision has been made to repeal the import prohibition for vehicles with model year equal to 15 year and more”, the Ministry said in a statement.
Students and teachers from the Niuas have had no means of travelling to Tongatapu to attend schools for months.
The islanders are short of goods in the shops and petrol because there has been no ferry service to the outer islands since December.
MV ‘Otuanga’ofa in Auckland, NZ. Photo/Kaniva Tonga News
The government has been accused of disregarding the welfare of the people of the two Niuas.
The government’s sole interisland ferry, MV ‘Otuanga’ofa, has been in New Zealand for maintenance for six months. The Niuas’ -owned MV Kelesi is in Fiji for maintenance and is expected to return to Tonga next week.
The Hu’akavameiliku government cannot afford to hire the ‘Eua ferry or the MV Vaomapa to take over the services.
The Niuas’ MP Vatau Hui told Kaniva News the government could only offer TP$30,000 to hire the‘Eua ferry but the shipping service has declined it. Hon. Hui said the shipping service’s fee was TP$60,000.
He said he also approached the MV Vaomapa’s owners, but its fee was more than $300,000. The government refused to pay that amount.
Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku has been contacted for comment.
All schools opened on February 6.
Former MP for the Niuas, Lepolo Taunisila has criticised the government for their lack of actions.
She questioned whether the government still lived by its campaign slogan “Make sure no one is left behind”.
The Minister of Transport announced the ‘Otuanga’ofa was expected to arrive in Tonga on February 14. Kaniva News understands the ferry is still docked at an Auckland wharf this evening.
Complaints over the loss of the ferry services come as Tonga faces a crisis over aviation links.
There have been many flight cancellations and delays due to lack of pilots and aircraft breakdowns.
The Australian government offered to step in and pay for Fiji Airways to take over services run by the government’s controversial Lulutai airline until June.
The two Niuas referred to the islands of Niuafo’ou and Niuatoputapu.
The Niuas are regarded as one of the most isolated islands in the world.
A vessel from Tongatapu arrives at the islands once a month with passengers, goods for the shops, petrol and mail.
Located in the north of the kingdom, they are the furthest islands from the mainland, Tongatapu, where the capital city Nuku’alofa is located.
The two islands are more than 500 km away from Tongatapu. According to the 2021 census they each has a population of less than 700.
Dame Valerie Adams has announced her separation from husband Gabriel Price.
The pair married at Temple View in Hamilton, New Zealand on 2 April 2016.
Valerie and Gabriel, both 37, who have been family friends since childhood through their parents and church, were married in a small Mormon ceremony in Hamilton yesterday. Photo / Woman’s Day
A statement released by the four-time World champion said: “I have something to share and I want you to learn of this from me personally.
“Gabriel and I have separated.
“While we are no longer together, we both remain entirely committed to our beautiful children.
“As with any breakup it can be emotional and difficult so I do ask that you please respect the privacy of my family during this time”.
Adams and Price are both half Tongan and they have two children, a daughter born in 2017 and a son.
Adams and Price are both 37. They have been family friends since childhood through their parents and church.
Adams was previously married to Bertrand Vili, a discuss thrower from New Caledonia. They married in 2004 and divorced in early 2010.
Former Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama is due to appear for a special hearing in a Suva court this morning after spending the night in a police cell alongside the suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho.
The pair were charged with one count each of abuse of office following the sanctioning of charges by the Public Prosecutions director (DPP) Christopher Pryde earlier on Thursday.
The two are alleged to have interfered in an active investigation into a financial mismanagement case involving former staff of the University of the South Pacific almost four years ago.
Acting Police Commissioner (ACP) Sakeo Raikaci said they were kept in custody at the Totogo Police Station and will be taken to the Suva Magistrates Court at 8am local time.
“Bainimarama and Qiliho were brought in for further questioning today [Thursday]. Upon the completion of the questioning via video recording interview, the two were formally charged,” ACP Raikaci said.
“As advised by Pryde, the special task force headed by the Director Criminal Investigations will undertake further investigations into other matters arising from this case.”
Police were expected to release more information when there were new developments, Sakeo said.
Sitiveni Qiliho, who is currently suspended from his role as police commissioner, arrives at the Poice CID head office in Suva on March 9, 2023. Photo: AFP / Leon Lord
DPP Pryde said the former PM and suspended police commissioner “are alleged to have arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices, terminated an active police investigation”.
ACP Sakeo told local media the charges laid against them were not bailable.
He also defended the independence of the investigations.
“There is no interference into the handling of these cases by other senior officers, as the investigation team reports directly to me as their line Assistant Commissioner of Police, the Chief of Intelligence, Investigations and Prosecutions,” he said.
“Investigators are given full autonomy to conduct the necessary work of the gathering of statements and evidence and the questioning of persons of interest.”
‘Everything under control’
Following the high profile arrests, police also put out a statement calling for calm.
“There is no reason to be concerned about public safety,” police chief of operations Livai Driu said, adding that the country’s “security landscape remains calm and manageable”.
“No one should be apprehensive about the security of our nation, as Police have everything under control, and we urge everyone to go about their business as usual,” he added.
Three people, including a 14-year-old boy, have been charged in relation to the supply of drugs at Ha’asini and Veitongo in south-central eastern Tongatapu.
Police yesterday, 8 March 2023 intercepted a vehicle reported to be distributing illicit drugs at Veitongo.
The suspect, a 31-year-old male from Ha’asini attempted to flee but Police arrested him following a pursuit.
A search was conducted at his residence at Ha’asini where Police seized 345.67 grams of cannabis including piles of marijuana stalks and leaves, a drug utensil containing methamphetamine, a .22 rifle, a 9mm ammunition, empty packs, and test tubes.
Following the seizure of these items, two other men aged 26 and 14 were arrested in connection to the same offence.
The suspects have been charged with possession of illicit drugs, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, utensils and are being remanded until their appearance in court.
“We acknowledge the strong partnership we have with the community and encourage anyone who may have information about drugs to please come forward or contact phone 740-1660 or 922”.
Runaway former Fijian army chief colonel Ratu Tevita Mara has returned to his home country after he fled to Tonga in 2011.
He was charged for attempting to overthrow ousted Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama’s government in 2010.
Ratu Tevita Mara
Fiji media reports today March 9 said: “Former army officer, Ratu Tevita Mara, arrived in Fiji today – 12 years after seeking political asylum in Tonga”.
“It’s understood he will attend the installation of Ratu Epenisa Cakobau as Vunivalu tomorrow”.
Following Mara’s appearance in a Fijian court in 2011 for his charge and while released on bail his family contacted the Tongan royal family and asked to help rescued Mara.
Tongan navy under a royal order arrived in Lau group and secretly picked up Mara in May 2011.
Bainimarama’s regime was furious after it learnt Tongan navy crossed its sea zone and rescued Mara but the Tongan authorities officially said it was “attracted to a distress signal” south of the Fiji’s Lau groups, 365 kilometres west of Nuku’alofa.
Tevita Mara, the son of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, former Fiji Prime Minister and President, was accused, along with Brigadier Pita Driti and Colonel Mohammed Aziz.
Driti was jailed on treason charges while Aziz assisted the prosecution and escaped trial.
Tevita Mara’s return came a day after Bainimarama resigned from Parliament just two weeks after copping a three-year suspension for making seditious comments.
Bainimarama, who was the opposition leader, made the announcement via a five-minute video on Facebook on Wednesday.
A former military coup leader, Mr Bainimarama led Fiji for almost 16 years before losing December’s general election to Sitiveni Rabuka, Fiji’s new prime minister.
Tevita Mara’s sister Adi Koila Mara married late Epeli Nailatikau, a grandson of Tongan King Siaosi Tupou II. Mara served as King Tupou VI’s private secretary while he was in Tonga.
The woman who widely promoted a fraudulent investing scam in the US has called on Tongan investors to immediately stop depositing any more money in the Hyperfund ponzi scheme.
Setaita Folau Tānaki, promoter of Hyperfund scam
Setaita Folau Tānaki said people who had invested $100,000 and more in the scam had been unable to withdraw their money.
Only Tanaki and people who had invested less than $100,000 had been able to withdraw their money, she recently said in a livestreamed video.
Hyperfund, which was later rebranded as Hyperverse after warnings from regulators, was promoted as a scheme which offered a 300% return of investment to investors.
The scheme reportedly collapsed in 2021 before its founders and top promoters fled to Dubai with their investors’ money.
One of its top promoters was Kalpesh Patel, a UK citizen who lives in Dubai. Patel was active for many years in promoting pyramid schemes, scams, frauds and money laundering around the world.
Reports claimed he was making an estimated $3 million per month while he was involved with Hyperverse.
It appeared the Tongan investors were just recently made aware of the company’s downfall, which was publicly confirmed after Tanaki appeared in a livestreamed video on February 22 this year.
“Do not deposit any more money,” she warned her Facebook followers.
She said the next step was for the victims to fill a form and submit it online so that Sam Lee, one of the founders of the Hyperverse could try to “recover” their money.
“This man [Sam Lee] previously said he did not want us to make further deposit,” Tanaki reiterated.
“If someone tells you to deposit more money no. Not yet. Just wait”.
“Those of you who have invested tens of thousands, thousands and hundreds and have yet to withdraw it Sam Lee will be here in an attempt to refund their money”.
Tānaki, was visibly concerned and spoke in such a low voice that her listeners warned her on the Facebook comment section to speak louder so they could hear her. She is still a member of Hyperverse, but said she kept her membership only because she felt for those Tongans whose money had gone missing in the scam.
She said Lee was expected to provide another scheme which was better than Hyperverse. She said it was intended to make sure this problem did not occur again in the future.
Tānaki, who appeared to be based in Utah, said Lee had already announced on one of his YouTube videos that those who had yet to receive their money must fill a form but she implied that there was a training to be conducted on how to fill the form.
She said Lee wanted to obtain the names of the victims so he could help them retrieve their money.
However, she also said: “Filling the form does not mean he will send your money right away. No it isn’t. I want to assure you that.
“The form is another way of bringing the community together in and he will look into that, he will see what had happened and after that your money will be paid back.
“So this is the beginning of the submission of the forms so he could work on them.”
Despite the collapse of the scheme and many Tongans losing thousands, Tānaki still took great pride in scammer Lee and the leaders of the Hyperfund.
“The promoters who are senior to me are working together with this man (Lee) and I am greatly thankful for him. He is very faithful. He brought himself into this community. The Tongan community so that we can see a light at the end of the tunnel”, Tānaki said.
“He is a very smart man. Let’s see what he will be able to do”.
Tānaki’s latest video provided what appeared to be another misleading, ambiguous and conflicting information to the victims on how they should get their money back.
She said the victims must submit a form which showed their names and contact details but there was no promise their money will be refunded.
One may ask, why were victims asked to resubmit their details when all investors must initially have created their own accounts on Hyperverse website where they provided their names and contact details.
Tānaki’s 2021 campaigns
Tanaki assured the Tongan international community in 2021 that Hyperfund was just like any other financial company.
She previously claimed she had received rewards of US$200 daily and she urged Tongans in New Zealand and Australia as well as yard workers in the US join in.
However, in one of her meetings at the time with members of the Tongan community some potential investors accused her of promoting a scam. The accusers argued that Hyperfund had no physical office and there was no legal paperwork for members to sign up with the company. Tanaki vehemently denied this at the time and urged people to invest, insisting the company was real.
In its warning at the time, the New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority said “HyperFund may be operating a scam”.
It said HyperFund operated on a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) model and claimed to offer passive investment opportunities.
“We have received reports of them recruiting affiliate investors in New Zealand. It is not registered or licensed to provide financial services/products in New Zealand”.
The warning by FMA on September 30, 2021 came a month after Kaniva News published a story on August 30, 2021 titled “Tongans in US try to recruit new members for scheme that promises huge wealth to investors.”
In that story we said: “Kaniva News has learned that Tongans who have bought into the scheme have been promising potential recruits a big payday”.
It also came before the New Zealand FMA placed a temporary stop order on the Validus multi-level marketing scheme and the people promoting it, last month.
The New Zealand and Australian authorities have warned that Validus may be promoting a Ponzi scheme.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for earlier investors with money taken from later investors.
The website thehyperfund.com now redirects to thehyperverse.net
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority cautioned the public about HyperFund on 23 March 2021. View the warning.
Solar power was brought to Tonga about a decade ago and the government said it would help reduce the electricity costs. However, since then critics have argued that this has not happened.
Lord Nuku (L), Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku
Critics said the electricity charges increased constantly, leading people to believe the idea that solar power would reduce power costs was untrue.
Parliament was recently told that when solar power was introduced to Tonga the electricity powered by diesel cost 70 cents per unit. Now it is about TP$1 per unit.
Across Tonga’s 170 islands, up to 90 per cent of energy needs are met by diesel.
Fuel has accounted for 25% of all imports by value and 10% of GDP.
Lord Nuku said in Parliament the perception that solar power could reduce the costs of the electricity had not come true. He said the number of solar and wind turbine power sources in Tonga was large enough to help reduce the electricity prices.
He said the petrol prices were also in decline. The king’s noble wanted to know what the government’s policy was for the high rate charges of electricity faced by consumers.
Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku said the problem was that Tonga could only create 20 percent of electricity powered by solar and turbine.
“We are pretty much relying on electricity powered by fuel”, the Prime Minister said.
Hon. Hu’akavameiliku’s statement came after former Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa accused the Tonga Power Board of Directors’ high salaries as one of the causes of the increasing charges on electricity costs.
Tu’i’onetoa’s online comments were met with an equally heated response by Facebook users who said he should have taken care of the problem when he was in office.
Last December Hon. Hu’akavameiliku said the company aimed to have 70% energy from renewable sources in Tongatapu by the end of 2025.
He was speaking at the launch of the biggest solar power plant in the South Pacific.
He said the plant indicated the need for independent power – like solar energy – to achieve their National Energy Roadmap.
“Although the majority of our renewable generation sites are from donor partners, Tonga will also need to pursue partnership and collaborations from independent power producers,” the Prime Minister Sovaleni said.
The plant powers more than 10,000 homes.
It is claimed the new solar farm will offset Tongatapu’s diesel needs by 18 per cent.
Tonga Power worked with New Zealand company Sunergise to implement the six megawatt solar power plant, with support from the Asian Development Bank.
Tonga Power came under fire last year after the deadly Hunga Tong-Hunga Ha’apai eruptions when consumers complained about what they described as a shocking spike in power bills.
In response Tonga Power told consumers that power bills for January 2022 were being distributed and would reflect the government’s contribution of $100 for each household in Tongatapu and Vava’u.
However the spike appeared to have persisted before Tonga power said it would hire experts from overseas to help resolve the issue which was described as a fault in the organisation’s computer programme used to calculate the electricity used by consumers.
Cheaper electricity
In 2019 the ‘Akilisi Pohiva government sought advice from experts on the possibility of reducing electricity charges by 15 percent.
However, it was advised that a 15 percent cut was impossible as it would cost Tonga Power millions of paʻanga when there were hardly any other sources from which income could be raised.
In 2015 a new one megawatt solar facility was commissioned by His Majesty King Tupou VI. It was announced at the time that the project was meant to provide cheaper electricity in the main island of Tongatapu.
His Majesty King Tupou VI named the US$15 million (TP$26.9 million) project, funded by the Government of Japan, as Mata-‘O e-Laʻā or Face of the Sun.
Power Generation Manager of Tonga Power Ltd, Michael Lani ‘Ahokava, said at the time: “This project started with a vision by the Governments committee, the Tonga Energy Road Map (TERM) almost three years ago to reduce Tonga’s vulnerability to oil price shocks. A vision that would open up doors for renewable developments in Tonga to drive down electricity prices through a reduced reliance on diesel.”
Renewable energy projects funded by the Asian Development Bank began in 2014 to provide solar systems in the outer islands, including Eua, Vava’u and Ha’apai, Uiha, Nomuka, Ha’ano, Ha’afeva in the Ha’apai Group as well as Niuatoputapu and Niuafo’ou.
