Ex-staff of Forum Travel charged with embezzling $300,000 [1]
Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 17:12. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
TWO former employees at the Forum Travel office in Nuku'alofa have been charged with forgery and the embezzlement of $300,000 pa'anga.
Tonga Police charged a man and woman with the two offences after the Forum Travel company management discovered irregularities.
Police Commander Chris Kelley confirmed the amount involved was at $300,000 and he did not rule out the possibility of further arrests as the investigation neared completion.
Assaults and housebreaking
At the same time police last week recorded 36 crimes committed in Tonga from May 3-9, and assault emerged as the most prevalent crime with 11 cases, followed by 10 housebreaking offences and nine thefts.
A majority of the criminal offences were reported at the Nuku'alofa Police Station with 19 cases, six at Mu'a, two at Nukunuku, one at Houma, three at Neiafu and five at Leimatu'a in Vava'u.
Inquest
Police also attended on May 8 to a sudden death of a 37-year old man who was found dead at his wife's house in Ha'ateiho.
At this stage the police said there were no suspicious circumstances but an inquest would be conducted once the cause of death was determined.