Tongan deceiver sent to jail

A Tongan overstayer was sent to prison yesterday for taking money from Pacific Islanders after falsely promising quick New Zealand permanent residencies.

In the Hastings District Court Fakanonoa Fonua, 24, was sentenced to a total of eight months' imprisonment on one charge of using a document for financial advantage and two charges of deceiving to cause a financial loss. Fonua had promised more than 50 Hawkes Bay-based Pacific Islanders fast permanent residency for a $500 fee.

He told the hopefuls he could do so with the assistance of Prime Minister Helen Clark, whom he claimed he knew well from working in Parliament. He also claimed Helen Clark had studied with his mother.

Fonua's lawyer, Eric Forster, said his client had never intended for the operation to get as elaborate as it had.

"I suspect there was some fantasy involved with this man with him saying his mother had studied with Helen Clark," Mr Forster said.

Judge Roy Wade ordered Fonua to pay $1040 in reparation to the victims. He said when Fonua was released from prison he would be liable for removal from New Zealand because he had been here illegally for three years.

- NZPA