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Leaked e-mails point to major row with Lord Dalgety over missing fund allegations

By
Kalino Latu
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E-mails leaked to Kaniva News appear to show Tonga’s Election Commissioner, Lord Dalgety, has refused to comply with a demand for information about money allegedly missing from the Electricity Pension Fund Trust.

The documents also appear to show that his lawyer has threatened to sue the Secretary of the Electricity Commission, Paula Tupou.

The investigation into the allegations has drawn in the Ministry of Customs and Revenue and the MBF Bank.

Kaniva News understands that Tupou began investigating the Electricity Pension Fund Trust Board and the Electricity Commission after allegations that money was missing and that there were irregularities in the fund accounts.

It is understood that Lord Dalgety’s lawyer, Fatai Vaihū, demanded Tupou withdraw his allegation by September 29 and threatened to sue him for defamation if failed to do so.

In an e-mail seen by Kaniva News, Tupou wrote: “I will not ‘kindly withdraw my allegations’ as per your letter attached. Your clients have been repeatedly asked by a Co-Trustee (ME) to release the information that would clear their names of natural suspicion. They have not.”

Lord Dalgety, a trustee of the Electricity Pension Fund, told Tupou he was not in a position to provide the information he demanded.

“Respectfully, my Employers are the commission, not any individual Commissioner!”, Lord Dalgety said in an e-mail.

“Given Commissioner Tu’utafaiva’s e-mail to place this whole matter on the Agenda for next Friday’s Commission meeting, that is what will happen. Decisions of the Commission at that meeting will of course be honoured by management,” he said.

An e-mail appears to show that Tupou demanded the king’s law lord and another trustee of the Electricity Commission Fund Meleseini. V. Folau provide information regarding the electricity pension fund from 2012 – 2016.

“In my capacity as your Employer, I am ordering you to provide the above information within 8 hours from 9 a.m. Thursday 21/09/2017,” the e-mail said.

“This information was requested to the accountant Kilisimasi, 9 a.m. Tuesday morning so it is readily available.

“No reasonable Employer in the world can afford to tolerate continual refusal by any of its employees to obey a lawful order,” Tupou’s e-mail read.

It is understood the Ministry of Customs and Revenue’s CEO, Kulufeinga ‘Anisi Bloomfield, wanted to know if there had been any breaches of Pay As You Earn deductions from funds contributed by the employees to the pensioners funds

In an e-mail sent to MBF Bank and copied to others, including Lord Dalgety, Bloomfield said: “I am seriously concerned to observe that there are serious issues to address on this matter. This is a straight forward illegal practises if these allegations are facts.”

“To justify the legality of these allegation I demand a meeting with the General Manager of the MBF immediately. I will communicate directly to your Office tomorrow, please prepare all Bank Transaction including any other documents related to this matter.

“[Head of Departments] please keep alert for this issues, and be prepared as I may call all senior Officers to attend to this matter.”

Kaniva News understands that Tupou wrote to MBF bank general manager H.K. Yeoh asking him to provide all transactions regarding the Electricity Pension Fund Trust since 2007.

It is understood that Yeoh replied that while he accepted the request, he needed two trustees who set up the fund account to sign before he would release the information.

The main points

  • E-mails leaked to Kaniva News appear to show Tonga’s Election Commissioner, Lord Dalgety, has refused to comply with a demand for information about money allegedly missing from the Electricity Pension Fund Trust.
  • The documents also appear to show that his lawyer has threatened to sue the Secretary of the Election Commission, Paula Tupou.
  • The investigation into the allegations has drawn in the Ministry of Customs and Revenue and the MBF Bank.
  • Kaniva News understands that Tupou began investigating the Electricity Pension Fund Trust Board and the Electricity Commission after allegations that money was missing and that there were irregularities in the fund accounts.

PM releases details of controversial TP$22,000 spent on opening ceremony

By
Kalino Latu
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The opening of new St George Palace early this month cost Tongan taxpayers money which included TP$10,000 donated as gift for his Majesty King Tupou VI.

The money was part of a controversial TP$22,000 paʻanga which treasury had released after the Prime Minister and his cabinet signed a letter rejecting a request by sacked Finance Minister Tēvita Lavemaau for its release.

Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva said TP$3000 was taken from the money to buy a fala uongokumi (decorative mat) and TP$1,000 pa’anga was spent as a gift for a tauʻolunga (solo dance) which was performed by Mikaela Tuʻivakanō during the ceremony.

He said TP$8000 from the money was also used but he did not say how that money was spent.

The Prime Minister made the revelation during a press conference last week in Nuku’alofa.

Read more: Inquiries after sacked Finance Minister disobeyed cabinet decision on TP$80,000 spending

As Kaniva News reported, Lavemaau disobeyed the cabinet decision rejecting his proposal to release the money and he paid it to the organising committee, which was chaired by the sacked deputy Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni.

Lavemaau said the release of the money was legal and appropriate.

Hon. Pohiva said he thought it did not make sense for the government to spend taxpayers’ money on such gifts.

He said he still respected the king but there were other ways of presenting gift to His Majesty on such occasion rather than using taxpayers’ money.

“The cabinet ministers could have donated money for it from their own pockets”, Hon. Pohiva said.

The Minister of Justice Vuna Fāʻotusia said the TP$10,000 gift for the king was too small.

He said it may have been better if the normal cultural presentation of Tongan gifts was used rather than donating money.

Hon. Fāʻotusia said Lord Maʻafu who had been serving former cabinets and governments said the TP$10,000 gift presented as gift for the king was something new to him.

Man arrested over abduction and sexual assault of 6-year-old girl

By
Kalino Latu
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A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged after an abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl.

The victim was returned to her family, Acting Police Supt Semi Veʻehala said.

The accused remains in police custody as part of an ongoing investigation.

No further information is available at this time, he said.

“Police and Victim Support are doing everything they can to support the victim and her family,” Ve’ehala said.

“Police are committed to doing everything in their power to prevent this type of abuse and harm, protect victims and hold perpetrators to account.”

“It is vital that parents are aware of where their children are at all time, who they are communicating with and have some open and frank conversations about keeping safe, and not talking to strangers.”

Man charged with reckless driving causing death after Haʻateiho hit and run incident

By
Kaniva Staff
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A driver has been charged with reckless driving causing death after allegedly hitting and killing a pedestrian on Saturday night in Ha’ateiho.

A 49-year-old man from Vainī and Kolofo’ou was arrested after a 21 year-old man from Ha’ateiho died from the incident on 23 September at around 11:40pm.

The victim was rushed to Vaiola hospital by members of the Ha’ateiho Community Patrol Volunteers.

He died yesterday 24 September 2017 at approximately 10am.

The accused was driving a rental car heading west on Taufaʻāhau Road when he allegedly hit the deceased who was walking beside the road at Ha’ateiho.

The suspect failed to stop at the scene. He finally stopped at Tofoa about 5 kilometres from the scene and contacted Police about the incident.

This latest fatal death brings the total number of deaths on the road this year to 2, compared to 18 road deaths in 2016.

The death brings Tonga’s road toll for 2017 to 2 while 18 people died in road crashes from January to September 2016.

“Accident like this is preventable and we all need to do our part to reduce deaths and injuries on our roads,” said Acting Chief Superintendent Sisi Toutai Tonga.

“Tonga Police would like to send their condolences to the family of the deceased. The accused is under police custody while Investigation continues.”

Third Tongan MP in NZ Parl’t says ‘It was a massive power and love of God’

By
Kalino Latu
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New Zealand’s second Tongan speaking Member of Parliament Anahila Suisuiki Kanongataʻa said she made a silent prayer after Labour’s election results last night had allowed her to enter parliament.

Two other Tongan MPs in parliament were Tongan speaking MP Jenny Salesa and MP Carmel Sepuloni who is of Tongan descent through her father.

Kanongata’a said it was a massive power and love of God that had given her the opportunity to join parliament. She said she prayed to the Lord to help her in her political journey.

New Zealand’s voting system known as Mixed Member Proportional or MMP meant a political party’s total number of seats in Parliament is filled with a mix of Electorate MPs and List MPs.

100% of results have now been counted and this is how the next parliament will, probably, look:

National 46.0%, 58 seats

Labour 35.8%, 45 seats

New Zealand First 7.5%, 9 seats

Green party 5.8%, 7 seats

ACT, 0.5%, 1 seat

The Opportunities party (TOP) 2.2%, 0 seats

Māori party 1.1%, 0 seats

The threshold to secure a seat in parliament is 5% of the party vote or an electorate win, which is how ACT finds its way in, with party leader David Seymour winning in Epsom.

The full list of results is available on the Electoral Commission site.

A final tally, including overseas votes, will be released on Oct. 7.

As it stands, the ultimate result meant both National and Labour needed the support of NZ First’s Winston Peters to form a government under New Zealand’s proportional representation system.

Peters had served in previous Labour and National governments.

“He told reporters on Sunday he had not yet received any calls from National or Labour, and had not contacted them.”

Supreme Court allows Ministry’s appeal on Tongasat tax argument

By
Philip Cass
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The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal by the Ministry of Revenue and Customs against a decision by the Tax Tribunal over a dispute with Tongasat.

On 14 August 2015 the Ministry issued Tongasat with a Consumption Tax assessment for the period July 2006 to March 2015 amounting to just under TP$18 million, not including  penalties for late  payment.

On 8 October 2015 Tongasat filed notices of objection to the taxation decision and the assessment. It argued that no services had been supplied within Tonga and that its services had been supplied through its office in Hong Kong.

The Tax Tribunal said: “Having studied the various documentation and agency  agreement obligations we have little doubt  that  most  of  the  work carried out by Tongasat  that  resulted  in  revenue  under the Agency agreement was performed overseas for the Government of Tonga though there may, at times, have  been some reporting and possibly meetings  to  update  the  Government that were held in Tonga,”

“Our finding is that the actual performance  of  the  agency  agreement  very  substantially, if not exclusively, took place outside Tonga  and thus the services were in reality  foreign services and not domestic services.”

Judge Scott, presiding, said in his report on the Supreme Court’s consideration of the appeal, that it appeared the Tribunal took  the  view  that since  the bulk of Tongasat’s business activity took place out of its overseas place of business, the services it provided through its Tongan place of business should be  disregarded.

Judge Scott said that in his view neither the existence of places of business outside Tonga not the proportion of business conducted overseas affected the question of whether tax should have been paid on services supplied inside Tonga.

“In my view there was nothing before the Tribunal to show that this was not the case  and accordingly the application should have been dismissed.”

Judge Scott said legal counsel for both sides  had argued that in view of the importance of the question of law raised and the very large sum of money at stake, a second appeal would be taken to the Court of Appeal.

“In my view the better course would be for that Court to remit the matter to the Tribunal if, following disposal of the appeal, there are still matters awaiting resolution,” Judge Scott said.

The Ministry’s appeal was allowed.

King welcomes appointment of first Tongan woman at UN 72nd session

By
Kalino Latu
-

King Tupou VI has told United Nations leaders yesterday his country has welcomed the appointment of the first Tongan woman to a senior level in the international organisation.

Ms Fekita ‘Utoikamanu was appointed in April as UN’s new High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

“We welcome the appointment of the first woman from Tonga and the Pacific Islands of region to shepherd the important advocacy and the facilitation work in the years ahead of the office for the least developing countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states”, the king said.

Tonga has fully supported the goal of gender parity including at all levels at the United Nations, he said.

The king was addressing the general debate of the 72nd Session of the General Assembly of the UN in New York on 19 – 25 September 2017.

His Majesty also said Tonga was supportive and contributed to works done by the United Nations to address the Pacific Island countries specific development challenges and negative impacts of climate change.

“We have and continue to experience the negative impact of ocean degradation to our livelihood and cultures due to anthropogenic activities and interrelated devastating effects of climate change”, the king said.

He reminded the diplomatic leaders Tonga had spearheaded the campaign to save and protect the existence of whales.

Tonga hosted this year an international whaling meeting and the king said his late father King Tupou IV signed a royal decree in 1978 to prohibit whaling in the kingdom.

This was four years before the international ban on whale hunting came into effect, he said.

Listen to His Majesty’s speech here: Tonga – King Addresses General Debate, 72nd Session

One arrested, two at large after Longoteme shop robberies

By
Kalino Latu
-

Police were searching for two men after a suspect was arrested following shop robberies in Longoteme, a Police spokesperson said.

A 20-year-old man from Longoteme was arrested in relation to robberies of two retail shops in the town.

Police were called to a report of theft in a Chinese shop at the Kauvai area at 11pm on August 27.

The robbers took off with $4,900 cash and $200 pa’anga worth of phone cards.

Police were again called to a second robbery in Longoteme which took place on September 4 at about 1am in a shop belonged to a Tongan national.

The thieves got away with thousands of paʻangas worth of stolen items.

Police believed the two robberies were linked.

Cause of Sia Ko Veiongo house fire under investigation

By
Kalino Latu
-

The cause of a fire that fully gutted a house in Kolomotuʻa on Wednesday morning was still under investigation.

The fire was believed to have been started from the northern side of the property.

Firefighters were called to the Sia Ko Veiongo residence on September 20 at about 11.35am following reports of the fire, a Tonga Fire and Emergency Service spokesperson said.

“House fully destroyed including structure & contents”, he said.

“The total cost of the damage was estimated at TP$49,800.”

He said a call to report the fire was first made to Police before the Service was alerted.

Suspected tsunami alert siren thief arrested

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tonga police have arrested a man they suspect was responsible for the stealing of three civil defence sirens from Kolovai last month.

The 25-year-old accused was arrested in Lapaha on Friday night September 15, a police spokesperson told Kaniva News.

The accused was believed to have been a member of a group of workers from Lapaha who did maintenance road works in Kolovai.

Police had retrieved one of the three sirens and they were still searching for the remaining two.

The sirens were installed by the National Emergency Management Office.

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