By Linny Folau

Two men who had courterfeit Tongan currency were caught when one used a shoddy counterfeit $20 to pay for petrol. In the Supreme Court of Tonga today, Sione Songo’imoli (44) and Tupou Haupeakui (30) received jail sentences for convictions on various charges that included making acounterfeit currency up to $3,605 pa'anga

Justice Cooper on 18 June sentenced the accussed Haupeakui to serve 16 months’ imprisonment, backdated to when he was first remanded on 4 April this year. The accused Songo’imoli must serve four years and 10 months backdated to his first remand on 5 March 2024.

Haupeakui faced charges including uttering counterfeit currency ($50), obtaining counterfeit currency ($170) and unlawful possession of drugs utensils (31 empty packs, a straw and 1 test tube).

Songo’imoli was charged with making counterfeit currency ($3,605), possession of counterfeiting instruments (12 bottles of ink, 1 drying machine, 3 printers, and 1 keypad laptop), three counts of possession illicit drugs, including 2.16 grams of cannabis seeds, 0.28 grams cannabis and 1.19 grams cannabis seeds, as well as unlawful possession of drugs utensils (172 empty packs, 1 bong, 4 test tubes, 1 straw and 3 weighing scales).

Haupeakui

The judge stated that around mid-day on Monday 5 September 2022, a witness Siale Talia’uli was working at the Galilei Enterprise petrol station when a car driven by Mr. Haupeakui arrived and he asked for $20 worth of petrol, which he got.The accused then paid and gave the note to Talia’uli, who in turn gave it to Malia Palanite, who was supervising the petrol station that day.

The change from that purchase was handed over and as Ms Palanite walked back to the store she looked again at the note and realised it was counterfeit. She yelled out to Mr. Haupeakui, but he drove off. She contacted the police and along with the counterfeit note, gave them an account of what happened and the registration of the vehicle concerned.

The police traced and arrested Mr. Haupeakui that same day, and when his home was searched his the next day, amongst the items they seized were: four counterfeit TOP$5 with all the same serial number, 31 empty packs, 1 test-tube, counterfeit TOP$50 and a torn counterfeit TOP$50. He admitted all those items were his.

Songo’imoli

On the following day, acting on information that they received, the police raided Mr. Songo’imoli’s home. They seized $3605 pa’anga in counterfeit money found in various locations in his home, consisting of $5, $20, $50 and $100 notes: some notes had been discarded into a bucket, and were not properly cut to size and still showing parts of the white paper they had been printed and cut out of. Other notes were still on the A4 size paper they had been printed on and were not yet cut to size and some counterfeit notes were found inside an empty mobile phone box and also on the floor and 12 bottles of ink (yellow, orange, green, red, blue and black).

Also seized were three printers; various electronic storage devices, a mobile phone, a keypad laptop and an LCD computer screen; drying machine; 1 empty vaikita bottle used as a ‘bong’ for smoking cannabis, test tubes used for smoking methamphetamine, 2 hose-parts used for smoking methamphetamine, three weighing scales and a white straw; 172 empty packs; 70 cannabis seeds found inside a plastic box which was on the floor, cannabis found inside a blue and yellow empty mobile phone box also on top of a shelf in the house, among others, stated the judge.

On 19 October 2022, the National Reserve Bank of Tonga confirmed the currency taken from Mr. Songo’imoli’s residence was counterfeit, and a further report in January 2023 confirmed the note that Mr. Haupeakui had given at petrol station was also counterfeit.

Repeat offenders

Both men were repeat offenders. In the case of Mr. Haupeakui, he was sentenced to a suspended sentence for possession of methamphetamine that included completing 50 hours community punishment order.

In September 2021, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment, fully suspended for two years, conditional upon his completing 25 hours community punishment order and not committing any offence punishable by imprisonment. Probation have confirmed that the Community Service Order was never completed.

Songo’imoli had a previous conviction and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for possession of methamphetamine in 2009. Then in May 2021 for possession and importing illicit drugs, he was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, fully suspended for three years, on conditions including not committing any offences punishable by imprisonment.

The maximum sentence for uttering counterfeit currency is 5 years’ imprisonment.

For obtaining counterfeit currency, the maximum sentence is 5 years’ imprisonment and for possessing instruments for making counterfeit currency, the maximum sentence is 10 years’ imprisonment.

For Haupeakui,  suspended sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment was activated and must be served before the sentence in this case, resulting in a total sentence of 16 months. Because this was offending in breach of a suspended sentence none of that term will be suspended, the Judge stated. Mr. Haupeakui is now serving 16 months’ imprisonment, back dated first date remanded 4 April 2024.

For Songo’imoli, the judge concluded that the offence of possessing materials for counterfeiting was the most serious offence, and set a starting point of three years. For his late guilty plea, he reduced that to two and a half years.

For making counterfeit currency starting point of 18 months, reduced to 15 months for the late guilty plea. For each offence of possession of illicit drugs, a sentence of two months’ imprisonment, to run concurrent to the above sentences. For possession of drug utensils, a term of nnine months reduced to eight months, to run concurrent to the above sentences. In addition, the suspended sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment was activated and added to the sentence, he ruled.

“That makes four years. Because the offending was during the currency of a suspended sentence I decline to suspend any part of it," the judge said.

Mr Songo'imoli is now serving four years and 10 months’ imprisonment, backdated to his first remand on 5 March 2024.