‘Etuate Lavulavu
‘Etuate Lavulavu is a Tongan politician and current member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga for Vavaʻu.
Lavulavu graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University–Hawaii followed by a Master of Arts from Brigham Young University in Utah. He publicly claimed to have a PhD from the University of Edenvale, and began referring to himself as "Professor" [1] but this was proven to be false, and the institution was recognised as a scam outfit that sells fraudulent higher education certificates online.[2][3] He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2002 election. During his tenure he was arrested in Utah, USA in October 2003 over an immigration scam [4] and was later convicted in 2004,[5] although he had been running from the law since 26 felony charges were brought against him in 1997.[6] He lost his seat in 2005, but was re-elected in the 2008 election. A Deseret Article posted 2003 reports of his criminal allocations in which he was allegedly granted bail. There are no records that he completed a Masters program.
In 2003 Lavulavu apologised to the House after an altercation with fellow MP ʻAkilisi Pohiva.[7] In 2004 he was suspended from Parliament for three days for disrupting the proceedings of the House.[8]
In the November 2010 general election, standing in newly districted single-seat constituency of Vavaʻu 14, he lost his seat to Lisiate ‘Akolo, obtaining 540 votes (22.7%) to ‘Akolo's 665 (28%).[9]
Lavulavu is a Latter Day Saint.
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