The trial against a current Cabinet Minister and People’s Representative to Parliament, ‘Akosita Lavulavu and her husband, ‘Etuate Lavulavu, also a former Cabinet Minister, started on April 12 at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court.

The couple have pleaded not guilty to three joint counts of obtaining a total of over $500,000 pa'anga by false pretences, relating to a number of irregularities in an audit at the ‘Unuaki ‘o Tonga Royal Institute.

Particulars of the offences alleged that on May 29, 2014 the accused couple obtained $146,400 by false pretence from the Ministry of Education and Training, when they applied for funds from the Technical Vocational Educational Training Grant that there were 255 students at the institute for semester 1 of 2013.

The second alleged on November 18, 2014 that they again obtained $249,600 by false pretence in an application to the Ministry of Education's Technical Vocational Educational Training Grant, that there were 416 students at the institute for semester 2 of 2014, knowing it was false.

Simiarly on June 29, 2015 the accused couple allegedly yet again got $162,600 by false pretence from the Ministry's same grant, when they applied for funds for 271 students at the institute for semester 1 of 2015.

The trial heard before Hon. Mr Justice Cooper is expected to run for two-months with the Crown expecting to call more than 100 witnesses.