Jailed Tongan cabinet minister, 'Akosita Lavulavu, and her husband. 'Etuate, a former cabinet minister, have lost their bid for bail.
Tongan MP 'Akosita Lavulavu. Photo: RNZI/Koroi Hawkins
The Lord Chief Justice Michael Whitten handed down an 18 page ruling this week, saying he was not satisfied with their prospects for success on appeal.
The Lavulavus had run the 'Unuaki 'o Tonga Royal Institute, but falsified the numbers enrolled when applying for vocational education training grants, instead pocketing hundreds of thousands of pa'anga intended for the tertiary education of young people.
Etuate Lavulavu Photo: Facebook
The Chief Justice said their offences were of a very serious nature, involving some of the largest monetary amounts for offences of this kind in Tonga.
The couple sought to have their convictions set aside and that they be acquitted.
But the Chief Justice said the Lavulavus failed to show there were successful grounds that might warrant the convictions being quashed.