Nuku’alofa, Tonga – The Land Court has ruled that a lease granted over a Kolofo’ou town allotment was obtained through forgery and fraud orchestrated by two family members, although the court has stopped short of cancelling the lease until the remaining defendants have been heard.
In a judgment delivered on 26 May 2026, Justice Tupou KC and Land Assessor Fuiva Kavaliku found that Fatafehi Vea and her son, Siosio Malohi Vea, were responsible for creating and using a false power of attorney to secure a lease over a family-owned allotment known as Mohekonokono.
The case was brought by Penisimani Panuve Mataele and his sister, Filoi Mataele Tu’itupou, who challenged the validity of a lease granted to Chinese national Luo Shi Yun over the 33.5-perch allotment in Kolofo’ou.
The court heard that the land was originally registered in the name of the plaintiffs’ late father, Hameti Mataele, and passed to Penisimani as heir following his death in 2013.
Evidence presented during the formal proof hearing showed that a power of attorney purportedly signed by Penisimani in favour of Fatafehi Vea was used to support an application to lease the land. However, the court accepted evidence that Penisimani had never signed the document and had no knowledge of its existence until 2024.
Forged document irregularities identified
Justice Tupou found significant irregularities in the document, including inconsistencies in dates and the use of a notary public stamp belonging to a Californian notary whose commission had expired years before the document was allegedly executed.
The court concluded that the document had been deliberately created to mislead the Ministry of Lands into believing that Fatafehi Vea had authority to act on Penisimani’s behalf.
“The Plaintiffs have proven on the balance of probabilities and to the required standard, that [the power of attorney] was created and presented by the 3rd and 4th Defendants knowing it was a false document,” Justice Tupou ruled.
The court found that Ministry of Lands officials relied on the false documents when processing the lease application, leading Cabinet approval of the lease and the eventual registration of Lease No. 10234 in favour of Luo Shi Yun in June 2023.
Justice Tupou further held that the actions of Fatafehi Vea and Siosio Vea amounted to both forgery and fraud, finding they intended to deprive Penisimani Mataele of control over the property in order to obtain funds from the lease arrangement.
Evidence before the court included Facebook messages in which Fatafehi Vea acknowledged seeking permission to use the land and later expressed regret over the dispute.
Lease cancellation deferred pending hearing
Although the court found that the lease had been acquired through forgery and fraud, Justice Tupou declined to immediately cancel it. He said natural justice required that the remaining defendants, including the Cabinet, the Minister of Lands and the leaseholder, be given the opportunity to present their cases before such an order could be made.
The court also deferred consideration of damages sought by the plaintiffs, finding that those claims should be addressed during a full trial involving all remaining defendants.
Justice Tupou invited the parties to propose a timetable for the continuation of proceedings and awarded costs to the plaintiffs against the third and fourth defendants, with those costs to be taxed if not agreed.
The case will now proceed against the Cabinet of Tonga, the Minister of Lands and the leaseholder, with the future of the disputed lease yet to be finally determined.
