Police officer and other, guilty of advertising pyramid scheme [1]
Friday, March 4, 2022 - 19:08. Updated on Friday, March 4, 2022 - 19:09.
By Linny Folau
Two women, including a 41-year-old police officer, have been found guilty on a joint charge of advertising a pyramid scheme where people who invested money did not receive the return promised.
Hon. Mr Justice Niu convicted Vaiola Tupa, the police officer, and 'Anaseini Pongi (30) on March 4 at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court.
They were jointly charged with one offence, that in December 2020 at Kolomotu'a, they advertised to members and others a scheme where profits earned by participants largely depended on increases in the number of participants, contrary to section 3A of the Financial Institutions Act.
Section 3A of the Act provides:
"Any person, who directly or indirectly, initiates, offers, advertises, conducts, finances, manages, supervises or directs a scheme where profits earned by participants in the scheme largely depend on increases in the number of participants in the scheme or in the size of their contributions to the scheme, commits an offence and such person shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years or both".
The Crown called three witnesses, Uinise Manuel and 'Ilaisaane Moala, who worked with accused in the Human Resource Division at Tonga Police, and Siosateki Vainikolo of the Professional Standards Division and who interviewed Pongi, when arrested.
The court learned that Uinise said that on a day in the first week of January 2021, when she and Tupa were the only ones in the office, she saw Tupa printing out documents from the office printer.
She recalled one of the documents that Tupa printed out was a diagram, which was circular, like similar to that which was in the 'Ujama' page on Facebook.
'Ilaisaane, a police constable first class said around January 26-27 2021 Tupa had print outs done from her computer with the title "Li Ii Gifting".
She told the court, Tupa had told them about the scheme and that she was "in a contributing (Ii Ii) group (company), and you had to register with a certain sum of money, and that you had to recruit many others to register, each with a same sum of money, and that those sums of money would be what you would receive as yours.”
Siosateki produced Pongi's record of interview.
- Pongi said she joined 'ujama' because of advertising from her cousin and that she joined and paid her money and she harvested money from it
- She joined on 16 November 2020 and paid her money which was either $1,180 or $1,185 pa'anga but was not certain
- She said when she joined she had to recruit her own people like her cousin did to her, and that she had to recruit 8 people herself before she could harvest any money.
- She harvested $8,295 pa'anga.
“A few people had harvested their money but she asked them to pay back their harvest so that new recruits could be repaid their monies. We collected some $30,000 and paid it all out but it was not enough to refund everyone,” the accused told the police officer.
Proven
The judge said from the evidence, he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that there was a scheme in this case, where profits earned by the participants in the scheme largely depended on the increase in the number of the participants in it.
"Both Pongi and Tupa stood to gain their profits, from the increase of the number participants in the scheme."
The two will be sentenced on May 3.