17 Mar 2011

Samoa woman jailed over land deal forgery

1:58 pm on 17 March 2011

A woman has been found guilty in Samoa for her involvement in the transfer of ownership of two separate freehold land titles by forgery.

Vaselisa Stowers has been jailed for two years to become the first person to be convicted in Samoa for such an offence.

The court heard how Stowers and her partner, former MP, Toluono Feti Toluono, had transferred to themselves land that belonged to the defendant's former husband's family.

The owners of the properties live in New Zealand but discovered their land was registered under the MP's name when they went to Samoa to develop it.

One of the parcels of land has a mortgage in the name of the former politician, Toluono, who is also facing criminal charges relating to the matter.