6 Dec 2010

Former church minister in Samoa jail for false pretence over visa

11:38 am on 6 December 2010

A former church minister in Samoa has been sentenced to one year in jail after he admitted two counts of false pretences.

According to the police summary of facts, the defendant had pretended to be an official at the New Zealand immigration branch in Apia.

He received US$4,000 from a woman to lodge an application for a visitor visa to New Zealand.

The woman had lodged a complaint to the police after she discovered the defendant had used the money and was not a staff member at the New Zealand High Commission in Samoa.