Lord Chief Justice Whitten will now sentence the accused on the three counts of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport, perjury and possession of ammunition without a licence (212 pieces). He will also be sentenced on a fourth count of possession of an arm without a licence (.22 rifle), which the accused had already pleaded guilty to last week. 

The Chief Justice set down April 17 for counsel to make oral submissions on sentencing, before sentencing the accused, most likely on April 24. 

After hearing submissions from counsel, the Chief Justice granted the accused bail but under the conditions that he surrender his passport to the Court and is prohibited from leaving Tongatapu.

The high profile trial wrapped up to a full court room comprising of local reporters and members of the public, who this morning heard final submissions from defense counsel William Clive Edwards and Crown Prosecutor Semisi Lutui.

Lord Chief Justice Whitten also summed up the case, including the evidence to the jurors, before they were let go to deliberate on their veridict.

The trial also heard lengthy evidence called by the Crown (15 witnesses in total) and four witnesses, including the accused from the defence.

Meanwhile, particulars of the charges, in which the accused will be sentenced on are:

• On making a false statement, that on July 17, 2015 with the purpose of obtaining a passport for Hua Guo and Xing Liu, and with intent to deceive the Immigration Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the accused wrote a letter to the Immigration Division, stating that these two were naturalised as Tongans on October 29, 2014, and he had reasonable cause to believe that statement was misleading. 
• For perjury, the accused is charged that on December 21, 2015, he made an oath in an affidavit, stating in paragraphs 6 and 7 that "Mr Huo Guo and Ms Xing Liu were naturalised during his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs" and that "after naturalisation Tongan passports were issued to these two", when he knew these statements were false. 
• The Court also heard, on the possession of an arm and ammunition without a license, Police had seized 212 pieces of ammunition and a .22 rifle during a search warrant, at his home in Kolofo'ou, on March 1, 2018.

The accused who is Tonga's former Prime Minister and former Minister for Foreign Affairs, was initially charged with 10 counts at the start of the trial on February 11. 

However, Crown last week dropped six charges of bribery and money laundering in relation to the issuance of Tongan passports to these Chinese nationals. 

The accused is a current member of Tonga's Legislative Assembly, as a long-standing Tongatapu Noble's Representative.