Jury finds travel consultant guilty of embezzlement [1]
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - 22:00. Updated on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 12:11.
Tafolosa Bloomfield, a former Miss Heilala, was today remanded in custody for sentencing after a jury found her guilty of embezzling over $204,000 while she was working as a travel consultant.
After an hour's deliberation, a seven-member jury delivered their guilty verdict at 3:00pm in the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court.
The jury found the accused guilty on one count of embezzlement of a total of $204,033.09 pa’anga from September 2009 to March 2010 while working as a travel consultant, at the Forum Travel Ltd. office in Nuku'alofa.
Mr Justice Charles Cato ordered that Bloomfield be remanded in custody pending sentencing on October 22, 2013.
Airline tickets
The Crown had withdrawn a second count of theft of airline tickets and increased the amount on the embezzlement charge.
At the start of the jury trial, Tafolosa was charged with embezzlement and accused of fraudulently converting a total of $179,782 from September 2009 to March 2010. On the second count of theft she was accused of taking airline tickets worth $246,166 belonging to the Forum Travel over the same period.
Co-accused
A co-accused Fangatua Favakava at the start of the trial changed his plea to guilty on the embezzlement charge, in which he fraudulently converted $88,051 from September 2009 to March 2010. He will be sentenced on September 6. The Crown withdrew a count of theft of airline tickets worth the same amount.
The Crown was represented by the Solicitor General 'Aminiasi Kefu and co-counsel Sione Sisifa with Mana Kaufusi representing Bloomfield.
Forum Travel Ltd. was the sales agent for Air New Zealand in Tonga.
Bloomfield is the current Secretary General of the Tonga Tourist Association.