Joseph Vaa, 27, admitted gunning down “Coconut Cartel” ringleader Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia outside a restaurant on 21 May. Vaa’s associate, Steve Tofa, 23, has confessed to being his accomplice in the shooting.
Photo: Screengrab / 7NEWS Sydney
Samoa police have launched an investigation into a bizarre international case involving two Samoan men who have appeared on Vietnamese television confessing to the murder of a Sydney gang leader in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Samoa Observer reported that Joseph Vaa, 27, admitted gunning down “Coconut Cartel” ringleader Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia outside a restaurant on 21 May. Vaa’s associate, Steve Tofa, 23, has confessed to being his accomplice in the shooting.
Tovia died at the scene while his associate Sauni Sam, 27, is in intensive care in hospital with serious injuries.
A video posted by Vietnamese television channel VTV9 showed Vaa and Tofa wearing black hoods and handcuffs while being marched into a room by police to confess.
Sydney gangster Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia was shot dead outside a restaurant on 21 May.
Photo: Screengrab / 7NEWS Sydney
Australia’s 7News showed footage of the confessions, with a blank looking Vaa clearly reading out a statement.
“Together with Steve, I came to Vietnam and I was the person who directly used the gun to shoot and kill someone on 21 May,” Vaa confessed.
“I realise that my actions were wrong and I deeply regret what I have done. The Vietnamese police have treated me kindly and provided me with food and drinks to ensure that I remain in good health.”
Tofa, also called Tafia in some news reports, who looked frightened, then admitted to being an accomplice in the crime.
“Me together with Vaa, were hired to come to Vietnam to look for two victims, Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia and Sauni Sam, in order for my friend to use a gun and kill them. Although I had plans to flee Vietnam immediately after committing the crime, it was impossible to escape from the Vietnamese police and I accept responsibility for the law,” Tofa said.
“I would like to advise anyone who intends to come to Vietnam to commit crimes to abandon that idea immediately because you will be arrested by the Vietnamese police.”
The duo were initially thought to be Australian but it is understood they used fake passports to travel to Vietnam and were arrested at the Cambodian border less than three days after the shooting.
Lieutenant General Mai Hoàng, the director of the HCM City Police, said authorities would deal strictly with all lawbreakers operating within Vietnamese territory.
“If the subjects provide sincere declarations, they will receive the leniency of Vietnamese law,” he stated.
Local police said the alleged hit men used “military-grade firearms” during the attack last Wednesday night outside the Cee’f seafood restaurant on Truong Dinh Street in Ben Thanh ward. Surveillance footage showed them fleeing on foot immediately afterwards.
The deputy director police, Nguyen Thanh Hung, told state media that police used surveillance measures and digital mapping to trace their movements and escape route.
Investigators issued emergency detention orders against the two suspects and said at the time that they were “highly dangerous” and “prepared to resist arrest.”
The Khmer Times reported that during their initial interrogation, the suspects told police that they were acting on behalf of a individual based abroad.
They said they had arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM city on 14 May and spent several days monitoring the activities of the two Australian victims.
Police have also detained Vietnamese citizen Nguyễn Trọng Nghĩa, 24, a resident of the southern province of Tây Ninh, along with seven other Vietnamese nationals, for allegedly helping the suspects evade capture and failing to report the crime.
Nghĩa reportedly worked as a passenger transport driver on the Ho Chi Minh City-Tây Ninh route.
Meanwhile, Samoa’s acting police commissioner, Leiataua Samuelu Afamasaga said officers were working with Australian police to investigate Vaa and Tofa’s criminal connections..
Police would need to try and determine who funded the trip to Vietnam to carry out the hit, Leiataua said.
Vaa and Tofa, an aspiring bodybuilder, had reportedly been working for a telecommunications company in Samoa and were involved in the local basketball scene.
