Moeaia Tuai will be sentenced next month for enslaving a young woman who he forced to work and sexually abused. Slavemaster Moeaia Tuai is a Samoan chief or matai, who took possession of his victims' lives and raped one victim, who had been forced to pay him her wages for four years. At the 63-year-old's trial, his own diaries were used to document the hours the young woman worked, her pay and when she was punished with beatings. The young male victim dreamt of finishing school, before he was put to work for 50 to 60 hours a week. She was sentenced to more than 10 years' imprisonment for dealing in slaves and dealing in a person under 18 for sexual exploitation, while Lata's partner Avneesh Sehgal sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for his part in the offending.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 11, 2026 19:03 UTC