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NZ urges public in Tongan Language to ‘come forward with any complaints about Validus’

By
Kaniva Staff
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The New Zealand’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) is putting new pressure on the Tongan community to crack down on Validus illegal activities.  

It has released an investment warning against Validus in the Tongan language.

 

It urges the public to report any further promotions of the company in the country after its February ban which made it illegal for anyone who advertises, supports or joins Validus.

‘Fakatokanga : Validus’, the title of the warning says in Tongan. In English it means Warning : Validus.

The New Zealand authority appeals to the public to exercise caution in dealing with this company and its associates.

“Please come forward with any complaints about Validus, especially if you have made investments or deposits”.

All information submitted to FMA are confidential, it said.

The full version of the Tongan warning against Validus which FMA has published on its official Facebook account, is published verbatim below.

It said:

‘Oku tonu ke tokanga a e kakai ‘i heenau ngāue’aki ‘a e Validus mo ‘enau kau ngāue. ‘Oku kole atu ‘a e FMA ki he kakai ke nau ‘omai ha lāunga pe ko ha fakamatala ‘o kau ki he kautaha ko ‘eni’, tautefito ‘o kapau na’a nau foaki, ‘inivesi pe fakahū ha pa’anga ki he kautaha ko ‘eni mo ‘enau kau ngāue’.

Ko e ngaahi fakamatala kotoa ko ‘eni ‘oku malu’i.

Kuo hanga ‘e he FMA ‘o tu’utu’uni ke ta’ofi fakataimi ki he lelei ‘a e kakai ‘oku ‘i ai ha tu’atamaki ‘e lava ke hoko ki he kau ‘inivesi mo ha maumau mei he ngaahi ‘ekitivitī ‘a e Validus mo ‘enau kau ngāue’, he ‘oku ‘asi mai ‘a e ta’efaitotonu pea mo ha takihala’i.

Validus campaigns had been recently active in the Tongan community in New Zealand, Australia and Tonga.

FMA previously said ‘an interim stop order has been issued against Validus International as there is a real risk of investor harm’.

The New Zealand warning in Tongan came as the Tongan government is expected to make an announcement this week after Validus arrived in Tonga recently.

It is understood Validus is not registered to operate as a financial institution in New Zealand, Tonga and Australia. This meant, any activities Validus and its promoters had conducted in these countries are illegal.

On February 16 FMA issued an interim ban against Validus.

It said: “The FMA is considering whether it may exercise a power under section 462 of the Act because it appears that Validus and Associates intend to hold a marketing event at the Jetpark Hotel, 63 Westney Road, Mangere,  Auckland on or about 15 February 2023 at which the FMA believes Validus and Associates will distribute to persons attending the event communications that, in terms of section 462(1)(f) of the Act, are restricted communications relating to an offer, or intended offer, of financial products, or the supply, or possible supply, of financial services that:

• are false or misleading, or likely to mislead or confuse, in a material particular; and

• contains a material misdescription or material error; and

• do not comply with the Act or the regulations made under the Act.

Validus said it ‘helps individuals build life-changing skills to flourish in their business by understanding the market more closely and effectively”.

Tongan promoters argue that Validus is ‘an educational platform’ which critics said was a misleading reference to the company.

The Australian Securities & Investment Commission said Validus is a scam and warned people to be wary of the company.

“Validus encourages investors to recruit new investors into the scheme. This is a classical sign of a pyramid scheme”, it said.

The FMA previously said: “We are concerned that Validus is operating in breach of the New Zealand financial markets legislation.

“Validus is providing financial services in New Zealand without registration as a financial service provider as required by the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008.

Truck and tools disappear, money misspent says MP as he calls for Auditor’s investigation

By
Kalino Latu
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The Tongatapu 4 MP Mateni Tapueluelu has called for an audit of the Constituency’s Council Office, claiming that equipment had gone missing and money had been  misused.

Tatafu Moeaki, the CEO for Tonga National Reserve Bank

Hon. Tapueluelu said the Council office’s records showed two tractors and a truck belonging to the constituency appeared to have been sold while former  MP Tatafu Moeaki was in office.

Hon. Tapueluelu, who replaced Moeaki after the former Finance Minister was dismissed following his electoral bribery conviction, said he could not locate the money paid for the vehicles.

He said the truck was sold for TP$3000 to a driver for Moeaki.  

He said after some time the record showed the TP$3000 was refunded to the office, but the driver appeared to have kept the truck. MP Tapueluelu said he wanted to serve a letter from his lawyer to the driver, but he appeared to be hard to find.

Hon. Tapueluelu said he was baffled by the truck deal.

One tractor was donated to a church.

He said the truck and the tractors were donated by the Chinese Ambassador in Tonga at his request before he was ousted in the 2020 general elections.

Moeaki, who is now CEO of Tonga’s National Reserved Bank, has been contacted for comment.  

Hon. Tapueluelu claimed he found some equipment from the Council’s office had been missing including a garden drill bit, a water blaster and a box of tools which were meant to maintain the tractors.

MP Māteni Tapueluelu

He also claimed the office donated TP$7000 to a private business as part of the constituency’s relief project.

The office also donated TP$500 to each villager in one of the constituency’s villages who had a funeral service. The MP said the constituency funding rules prohibited this kind of donation.  

Hon. Tapueluelu said he has asked the Auditor to audit the Council’s office, but was told the Auditor would do it according to its schedule. Late last week, after it appeared that his concerns had been leaked to the media, he was told the Auditor was ready to audit the office.

The Tongatapu 4 representative said he has been struggling to obtain financial reports from the 11 villages and towns of the constituency, especially the villages of Fangaloto and ‘Umusī.  He said he wanted to see how they had been using their share of the constituency funding.  

Funding

Constituency funding had been a point of heated debate in the Parliament in recent years.

The funding was meant for the 17 People’s MPs to distribute each year among their constituencies to help with what was most needed by their people for the development of their community. Each people’s MP has TP$200,000 to distribute.

In 2019 the Nobility’s nine MPs in Parliament pleaded with the government to be allowed to receive TP$100,000 each from the constituency funding to help people in their estates.

The then Prime Minister, the late ‘Akilisi Pohiva, strongly opposed the request. He said if the Nobles were given the money it could cause problems. He said not every constituency in Tonga had a Noble MP.

However, in 2020 the government of controversial Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’ionetoa supported a majority ballot in the House to allow each of the nine members of the Nobility a share of TP$50,000 in the constituency funding.

Rugby great who helped defeat Australia was a household name for Tongan football fans

By
Kalino Latu
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Kimbu ‘Inoke, the Tongan rugby great who starred in the Ikale Tahi rugby team’s triumph when they beat the Wallabies, has died.

He was 73.

‘Inoke’s death on February 25 was announced by his family.

Kimbu ‘Inoke stands in the rugby line up, date unknown.(Supplied: Cindi Sarchet)

The Ikale Tahi beat Australia 16-11 in their second test at Ballymore on June 30, 1973.

It was a monumental victory that has never been repeated.

‘Inoke, who was also known as Ernest Hayes Nuku, was a break away in the legendary team.

He was a colossus of a man in his playing days, standing about 190 centimetres tall.

He will be buried at the Kalevalio cemetery tomorrow, Friday March 3, after mass at the Catholic church in Tofoa, Tongatapu.

The service is expected to be attended by hundreds of people.

Former ‘Ikale Tahi captain and head coach Fe’ao Vunipola remembered ‘Inoke when he was in the field.

“He had a sturdy, muscular physique”, Vunipola , who was still young at the time,  said.

Vunipola said ‘Inoke came up with a style of sidestep footwork which was new and very interesting to the Tongan rugby fans at the time.

Kimbu ‘Inoke

Vunipola said such footwork was normally performed by someone in the first five eight because they were physically light and fast.

Nobody expected a person of Inoke’s size and weight to perform it effectively and brilliantly. 

“His footwork style always made the entire Teufaiva stadium park erupt in laughter,” Vunipola said.

Another former ‘Ikale Tahi player and head coach, Quddus Fielea, also remembered ‘Inoke.

He said he was still at primary school when he heard about ‘Inoke.

Fielea said ‘Inoke’s popularity  inspired the students to try to imitate him when they played rugby at school.

Those who managed to perform like their hero on the rugby field were called ‘Inoke.

“His name was a household one at the time”, Fielea said.

‘Inoke was adopted by the Late Prince Fatafehi Tu’ipelehake and his wife, the Late Princess Melenaite.

He is survived by his wife Katalina and their five children.

Former Health Minister takes up international position, vows to be global advocate for nurses

By
Philip Cass
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Tonga’s former Minister of Health, Dr Amelia Tu’ipulotu, has taken up her new role as Chief Nursing Officer with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In her inaugural address, Dr Tu’ipulotu said she was privileged to be the WHO’s new Chief  Nursing Officer.

Associate Prof ‘Amelia Afuha’amango Tu’ipulotu

She said she would be an advocate for nurses and midwives around the world.

She said they had faced tough times during the Covid-19 epidemic and shown courage, resilience and commitment to their profession.

They served some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

She said the world needed to be better prepared to respond to challenges in the future.

Dr Tu’ipulotu told Kaniva News she was extremely overwhelmed and excited by the appointment.

“I cried as it was still confidential until the public announcement a few weeks later,” she said.

“So I prayed for comfort and thanked God for everything and I just felt totally lost and overwhelmed!”

She had been travelling to Lao PDR and Cambodia and had just returned to Manila when she was informed of the appointment.

“I was reflecting to my life, my family and Tonga and said to myself: Now I am going to be thrown into the Deepest Ocean!” she said.

“In Tonga I served 100,000 people and now it is more than seven billion people around the globe! “

“How can I? I continue to ask.”

The International Council of Nurses’ President, Dr Pamela Cipriano, welcomed Dr Tu’ipulotu’s appointment  and offered the support of ICN in furthering the cause of nurses around the world.

“ICN firmly believes that successful healthcare policymaking requires a commitment to having the voices of nurses heard wherever decisions are made, and that all countries should have their own government-level CNO who reports directly to the top governing executive,” Dr Cipriano said.

“We will continue to campaign for this until every nation has a fully functional government-level CNO in place.”

Career

Dr Tu’ipulotu was the first Tongan to receive a PhD in Nursing in 2012.

She was a clinical nurse, a senior nursing lecturer, Chair of the Tongan nurses’ regulatory board and Chief Nursing Officer for Tonga from 2014 to 2019 before taking on the role as the Minister of Health.

Since 2019 she has been an Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia, and in 2022 she was appointed to the WHO’s Executive Board.

She was the first Tongan to win the Alumni Award for Professional Achievement, a prestigious honorary award from the University of Sydney, Australia.

Bribery verdict: ‘Case not proved beyond reasonable doubt’, Supreme Court acquits MP Piveni Piukala

By
Kaniva Staff
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The petitioner failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt that MP Piveni Piukala allegedly committed five instances of bribery contrary to section 21 (1) (a) of the Bribery Act.

MP Piveni Piukala with media outside the Supreme Court

These were the alleged giving of  cash prizes for poetry competitions at Mr. Piukala’s campaign events, the giving of cash prizes at an event at the Golf Club and, lastly, the giving of groceries to Mamata Kohinoa.

Piukala stood against an unsuccessful candidate, Feleti Fā’otusia during the November by-election. A supporter of Fā’otusia, Feleti Ulakai then brought an election petition before Judge Cooper, claiming that Piukala violated the electoral regulations by allegedly giving out $100 to a few voters of Tongatapu 7.

He accepted he had not enquired from whom that money had come. He had seen money given and so believed there had been acts of bribery.

“He had not checked and asked whether a prize winner felt bribed or induced by prize money, but he believed that was the effect of what had taken place because Mr. Puikala was present while those distributions were made.

“Because the Master of Ceremonies had mentioned sponsors would donate prizes and Mr Piukala was there with his supporters he equated the giving of the gifts with the Respondent.

“Of the event at the Golf Club, he had watched the broadcast and those people in the image were not golfers yet had won a prize. He did not know how much but the envelope handed over had a dollar sign on it, so he assumed that was a bribe.

He had not heard Piukala asking the winners to remember him at election day, but the giving of these prizes was made within the months of the by-election”.

Piukala gave away prizes and gave out free beer.

“As far as he was concerned this did not happen regularly, as was suggested, if it had he would have expected to see more live-stream broadcasts of him giving  away prizes, which he hadn’t”.

In his defense, Mr. Piukala made a single submission to cover each of these events. These points included what he submitted to be three essential arguments:

a) None of the poetry competitions had been demonstrated to be organised by him.

b) The prizes had not been proved to have been given by him or on his behalf.

c) It was not with the aim to induce people to vote for him.

d) What other people post on their social media pages is out of his control.

In his summing up Judge Cooper said that regarding the golf club event that “allegation also has failed to be proved”.

In his comment on the poetry competitions Mr Cooper said: “There is no evidence how this event was organised, for example whether there was a program of activities or not.

“Without a more careful and detailed presentation of available evidence that shows, for example, positive links between the sponsors of the prize money and Mr. Piukala as well as a plan between them for this to have taken place, the only evidence being his attendance at the event where it happened.

He also said: “None of the allegations as set out in the Petition, on the evidence called, was proved beyond a reasonable doubt, so to the required standard. So the case for the Petitioner has not been proved.

The petitioner is to pay the costs of, and incidental to, the proceedings, to be taxed in default of an agreement”.

Tonga government takes aim at Validus after New Zealand ban: Justice Minister

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Tongan government will look at the Dubai-based Validus after the New Zealand Financial Market Authority put a temporary ban on the promotion of the company’s multi-level marketing scheme.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Samiu Vaipulu has confirmed this to Kaniva News this morning.

“‘E fai ‘a e ngāue ki ai”, he said in Tongan.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Samiu Vaipulu. Photo/Fale Alea ‘o Tonga

Promoters of Validus, which is registered in the United States, are prohibited in New Zealand from: 

  • making offers, issues, sales or other acquisitions or disposals of financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus; and
  • accepting applications for financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus; and
  • distributing any restricted communication that relates to:
    • the offer, or intended offer, of financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus; and/or
    • the supply, or possible supply, of a financial advice service to any person; and
  • accepting further contributions, investments, or deposits in respect of financial products promoted under the brand or name Validus; and
  • supplying a financial advice service to any person; and
  • supplying the financial service of keeping, investing, administering, or managing money, securities, or investment portfolios on behalf of other persons”. 

The FMA previously said: “We are concerned that Validus is operating in breach of the New Zealand financial markets legislation”.

“Validus is providing financial services in New Zealand without registration as a financial service provider as required by the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008.

“We strongly recommend that investors do not trade or invest with entities that are not registered and/or licensed in New Zealand.”

The company has expanded its services to include Tonga with promoters from Australia and New Zealand arriving in the kingdom recently.

It came after promotions on social media including setting up of a Facebook account under the name Validus Tonga. It has more than a thousand followers.

It is understood Validus promoters held various meetings in Tongatapu including Nukunuku and Malapo this month.

Pyramid scheme

The Australian Securities & Investment Commission said Validus is a scam and warned people to be wary of the company.

“Validus encourages investors to recruit new investors into the scheme. This is a classical sign of a pyramid scheme”, it said.

Pyramid scheme is a form of investment illegal in Tonga, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere in which each paying participant recruits two or more further participants, with returns being given to early participants using money contributed by later ones.

The Tongan community has already been affected by scams, including pyramid schemes in which people have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Last year, two women had been found guilty at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court for running a pyramid scheme.

The two accused, Viola Tupa (Tupa), and ‘Anaseini Pongi (Pongi) were charged with advertising a scheme in Kolomotu’a , where profits earned by participants in the scheme largely depended on increases in the number of participants in the scheme.

In 2021 it was reported that Tongans in New Zealand who put thousands of dollars into pyramid scheme, Tongi Tupe Nu’usila, have been left without cash for food or rent as the country is plunged into lockdown.

“Those recruited into the scheme are told if they put in anything from $2,500 – $10,000, after three weeks they can turn up to collect big money every Saturday, turning over profits of thousands of dollars”.

Unanswered questions

People who attended Validus meetings in New Zealand had been left with many unanswered questions.

They asked  “why it was when you Google the one American residential address posted on one of the company’s several websites, several other firms with the same address”.

“I wanted to know why his firm was offering financial services but had not registered with any of the financial regulators in the countries in which it was operating.

“I wanted to hear his response to a warning by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission that Validus “had classical signs of a pyramid scheme”.

“I wanted to know why it seemed as if the only way to make money in Validus was to recruit others to join”.

Several people injured at West Auckland home, armed police attend

By
Kaniva Staff
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Several people have been left with minor injuries after an incident at a home in West Auckland this morning.

Police said they were called to the scene on Claverdon Drive, Massey just before 4am.

One person has been hospitalised with moderate injuries.

Police who attended were armed as a precaution.

Inquiries into the circumstances of the incident are ongoing

New weather warnings for flood-hit regions

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

MetService has issued an orange wanting meaning heavy rain is on the way for cyclone-hit Hawke’s Bay.

Workers scoop out silt in the rain in Pakowhai near Napier today. Photo: RNZ / Phil Pennington

From now through until 10am on Saturday people the region can expect 150 to 200mm of rain about the ranges and also away from the ranges north of Hastings (this includes the Esk Valley area and the Wairoa District), and 75 to 100mm elsewhere.

The heaviest falls are likely from 3pm on Friday, with peak rates of 20 to 30mm/hr possible.

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence controller Ian Macdonald says people who live on the Heretaunga Plains area where stopbanks failed should make preparations in case they need to evacuate.

Other areas are under a heavy rain watch and thunderstorms are possible in Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty about and west of Te Puke from 2am on Friday until 1am Saturday.

Gisborne can expect periods of heavy rain, with thunderstorms possible in the 36 hours from 2pm today. Rainfall amounts may approach warning criteria, MetService says.

Auckland can also expect to be drenched tomorrow with some heavy rain and possible thunderstorms from midday until 10pm.

Meanwhile, as of Wednesday afternoon 346 people remained listed as uncontactable in flood-affected areas.

Police have deployed four specialist victim recovery dog teams to the Eastern District to help in the search.

The death toll remains at 11 – nine people in Hawke’s Bay, and two firefighters in Auckland.

About 700 people displaced by Cyclone Gabrielle across the North Island are still seeking shelter at Civil Defence centres.

Cyclone-hit Pacific workers well cared for but worried about work

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

Seasonal workers from the Pacific are bunking in emergency shelters after Cyclone Gabrielle tore through New Zealand’s North Island as they wait to hear if there’s still work available for them.

Photo: RNZ/ Anusha Bradley

Alusio Kaloudau, a team leader of a Fijian Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) group, said they are staying in Flaxmere Community Centre in Hastings in Hawke’s Bay on the east coast.

During and after the storm the group of 21 workers were forced to move into three different shelters.

Kaloudau said his team was told to “just relax” by one of the RSE caretakers when they arrived at the first shelter.

“Those of us who are from Fiji we don’t relax, we just do whatever we need to, so we put all the tables aside for other people to come and stay, then we managed to cook some food,” he said.

Kaloudau said his group continued to help out at each of the shelters they went to.

The Hawke’s Bay Cook Islands Community Centre has also taken in more than 75 RSE workers from different Pacific countries.

However, the centre’s president Derek Teariki said he didn’t know how long they would be able to host the workers.

“The help out there is really good, the supplies are coming in, there are a lot of organisations and communities helping as well,” Teariki said.

“We just don’t know how long they are going to last at the Cook Islands Community Centre. We will look at it day by day.”

More than 400 workers from the Pacific were evacuated to the The Samoan Assembly of God church in Napier after being displaced by floodwaters that swept through North Island towns during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Photo: RNZ/ Anusha Bradley

Tuatagaloa Joe Annandale, the founder of Samoa RSE recruiter organisation Falealili Seasonal Workers Programme, said his group needed to be rescued from the roof of their accommodation during the cyclone.

Tuatagaloa said there was “certainly fear” amongst the men as the water started to rise and he was thankful for their “good sense” to climb on the roof.

Since being rescued, Tuatagaloa said his team had been very well looked after.

“They have been overwhelmed with the generosity and the love and the care that that has been shown by their employers,” Tuatagaloa said.

“A lot of the boys didn’t even have suitcases, they had just a backpack when they went to New Zealand. But now they’ve got suitcases, they’ve got all the clothing they need, and they’ve been fed very, very well. And the accommodation they’ve been re-allocated to is great.”

Tuatagaloa said Samoa’s history with tropical cyclones would have prepared the workers for the weather event, even though they are a bit different.

“We know how to sleep in the sand and live on nothing for a day or two. Sure it’s inconvenient and stressful at times, but we’re a resilient people and that will have helped for sure.”

The cyclone caused damage to farms and closed off forestry blocks making some of the workers’ future uncertain.

However, Tuatagaloa said he had been assured by one of the employers, Johnny Appleseed, there was still work available.

“There is enough work for them cleaning up and there is some some crop to be harvested, so they don’t have to be sent back home, not just yet anyway.”

However, he said there was not enough work for those in Samoa hoping to arrive in Hawke’s Bay this month.

“It’s very sad because they were all looking forward to it.

“All the airfares are paid for and they’re ready to get on the plane. We got notice late last week, from our partners in New Zealand to say that sorry, there’s no point in bringing them up because there would not be any work for them.”

Tuatagaloa said the RSE workers planning to go to New Zealand may still be able to find work in Australia.

Solomon Island workers all safe

Solomon Islands New Zealand High Commissioner, Eliam Tangirongo, said the country had 200 RSE workers in Hawke’s Bay who are safe. But there was uncertainty over whether they would continue working.

“That is something that we are yet to receive a definite response on,” he said.

“There’s a possibility that they could be moved around to other farms, or other parts of New Zealand in the coming months.

“While some of them may be involved in the rebuilding and reconstruction phases.”

President of the Fiji Tairāwhiti Community, Iliesa Batisaresare, is in Te Poho o Rāwiri Marae in Gisborne helping the affected community.

Batisaresare said seasonal workers and people in the forestry industry were also uncertain if work was available.

He said the visa conditions meant they could not work outside of their prescribed businesses. With forestry roads closed he wants to know if the Fijian community could work for other companies.

Man in court after Police raid black market selling alcohol in Nuku‘alofa

By
Kaniva Staff
-

Tonga Police have disrupted an illegal liquor sale conducted at a residence at Ngele’ia on Saturday 18.

Photo/Kaniva Tonga News

They seized approximately over 500 cans/bottles of various alcoholic beverages.

The owner, who has been charged for selling liquor and running a business without the required licences, appeared in court earlier today.

“Tonga Police recognizes the increase of clandestine markets, mostly known as ‘Black Markets’ in Tonga, which operates mainly for the illegal sale of alcohol amongst other products”, a statement said.

“Tonga Police urges the public to abstain from operating these illegal markets as they contribute to crime such as Domestic Violence, Housebreaking and Theft, and we have also witnessed many lives lost unnecessarily on our roads due to drink driving”.

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