Tonga's courts have granted the confiscation of $28,289 pa'anga of "tainted property" from a woman who ran a Chinese Clinic - the first confiscation under Tonga's Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crimes Act 2000.

The Attorney General was granted an application for an order to confiscate to the Crown the sum of $28,289 pa’anga, USD$91.00 and CYN $985, property seized by Tonga Police from Yin Lin Wei (respondent).

The money was seized as tainted property, from the Chinese national who was convicted of holding out as a medical practitioner, operating at a Chinese Clinic at Havelu, in 2015.

The application was made under the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crimes Act 2000 by the Attorney General on January 27 this year.

Hon Mr Justice Cato said in a 29 May ruling, the application for confiscation arose out of the conviction at the enhanced jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Court, for this offence of expressively holding out to be a medical practitioner, in which Wei was convicted and sentenced on two counts, a fine of $1,000 each.

The Principal Magistrate then ordered that the money located by police in her bedroom alleged to be tainted property be returned to her, less the amount owing under the fines.

The Crown, in response, sought an order from the Magistrate and was successful in having the original order varied so that the police retained the money.

Havelu clinic

The judge said no evidence was presented from the respondent that the money was from any legitimate source or that the confiscation order would lead to hardship of any kind.

"At the end of the day, she admitted to the offence of holding herself out as a medical practitioner from her premises known as Wei’s Chinese Medical Clinic in Havelu which she owned and operated and the money, I accept was deprived from her operation of this business."

Her counsel had argued that she could have legitimately have operated a business dealing simply in Chinese herbal medicine and some of the money was sent to China to acquire them and was the product of their sale, thus legitimately received.

However, the judge agreed with the Crown that would suggest the presence of many drugs and medicines that were not Chinese traditional medications.

No evidence was presented for the consideration of the court on this issue, he said.

The judge granted the application, and ordered the Attorney General shall be responsible for converting the foreign cash that is part of the property into Tongan currency and depositing the total Tongan currency of the property, into the Tongan Confiscated and Forfeited Assets Fund established in the Crown's Public Accounts of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crimes Act 2000.

Such funds are be managed and utilised in accordance with the relevant statutory provision governing such a fund, he said.

It is understood although this legislation has been in force since 2000, it was the first time it was sought to be used in this jurisdiction.