An independent audit has found that poor record keeping was behind the alleged misuse by the Tongan government of a New Zealand grant, and there was no evidence of fraud, according to a statement from New Zealand Foreign Affairs.

New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Murray McCully. in a statement on December 2, said the independent audit was undertaken following the alleged misuse by the Tongan government of a NZ$330,000 grant from New Zealand to finance Tonga's transition to a more democratic system of government last year

When the New Zealand government was notified of an alleged misuse of the New Zealand's grant, Hon. McCully stated that, "the New Zealand Government was not prepared to leave that matter unresolved, so we immediately launched an independent audit.

"I am pleased to confirm that the independent audit has found no evidence of fraud. The issues have arisen due to poor record-keeping rather than anything more suspicious," he stated.