Battle to head off pyramid schemes makes ground
The last three years have not been easy for Pita and Selu Hingano.
The retirees in south Auckland lead a humble life and have struggled to make ends meet after losing tens of thousands of dollars in a 2021 pyramid scheme.
Pita had seen the Tongi Tupe Nuusila (New Zealand) scheme on numerous Facebook feeds and posts – including live feeds from a business yard in Otara. Every Saturday, Tongans who had invested money in the scheme would line up to collect envelopes of cash from Ofa Siasau who ran the New Zealand arm.
1News exposed the illegal scheme in 2021 when it was at its height.
'Good morning Tongan community come and get some money,' Siasau said in Tongan to an eager social media audience. A promoter of the scheme Tomasi Ofanoa also saying in Tongan, 'get in touch don't wait, look at these people, they are happy to receive their money this morning'.
It did the trick. The promise the Hingano's heard was, for every $4500, you wait for three weeks and then get $2500 every week. So Pita put some money in the scheme and as the returns started coming in, he put in more.
'That was my retirement money from my account,' he says.
'I trust her."
Between April and July 2021 the amount came to $54,000 – and he got back $27,750 just over half of what he 'invested'.
'My heart is not very happy,' he says. Through Tionly Fatukala, who campaigns against pyramid schemes, they took their case to the Disputes Tribunal. They just recently got the decision – which found in their favour. Ofa Siasau was to pay them the outstanding amount of $26,250 by May 21. However she has since requested a re-hearing and so everything is currently on hold, no money needs to be paid, pending the outcome of the re-hearing request.
Ofa Siasau did not attend any of the hearings and she told 1News the Disputes Tribunal 'made the mistake of not advising me by email' about the last hearing date. In its April decision the Disputes Tribunal says Ofa Siasau had wanted an adjournment of a hearing last November saying that the notice of one of the hearings went to her junk mail. The referee says 'I sent her a direction saying in relation to the next hearing she will need to check her email at regular intervals and that I would not be granting an adjournment in relation to the next hearing date if the notice goes to her junk mail and she has not checked it'.
The Commerce Commission has recently successfully prosecuted three people for pyramid schemes targeting Pasifika. Joseph Liava'a from the Commerce Commission says there appears to be less of the schemes doing the rounds but the public really needs to be vigilant as 'this type of scam unfortunately never really goes away'.
He says, if there is no product or service being sold, it is likely a pyramid scheme.
'We rely on people coming forward, it's embarrassing you know if these things happen to you..it's happened to family members of mine and it's difficult for me to talk about but you know I guess that's another thing these scammers really prey upon."
Pita Hingano hopes to get his money back but knows it is now a waiting game. 'I'm not fighting for my money. I'm fighting for my right that's the main thing."
He hopes that by speaking up it will help others affected by pyramid schemes to get their own justice.
For Barbara Dreaver's full report, go to TVNZ+
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