Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Samoa media is reporting that two of the three people who appeared in court with alleged links to the Vietnam shooting involving two Samoan men were remanded for two more weeks by the District Court.

In court, all three individuals were presented together. Prosecutor Paulo Paramore told the court that the files were transferred to their office by the police only a day ago, and they needed more time. He said this case was also part of an active investigation and there could be further charges. He requested an adjournment of two weeks.

James Atua is charged with misleading the police and corruption, Ms. Nakitah Charles with corruption and Fred Papalii is charged with misleading the police. All three are also linked to Unalei Rentals. Atua and Papalii were remanded.

Atua and Charles were stopped from leaving the country on May 28th. It is alleged that the couple tried to bribe immigration officials into allowing them to leave when they were stopped at the airport. Atua was taken to the police station and charged the next day for misleading the police. He has been in custody since.

The corruption-related charges were laid later.

Papalii was charged with misleading the police on May 31st, and has also remained in custody since.

Atua’s counsel, Meleisea Mathew Lemisio, informed the court that a bail application had been filed for Atua.

Judge Talasa Atoa-Saaga asked Meleisea as to why the affidavit given to the court was not signed. He told the court that he had not been able to access his client. He requested that the court call the matter in a week and for the prosecution to file their response to the bail application by then.

He said two weeks would mean that Atua would be in prison for five weeks. He also confirmed to the court that Charles was five months pregnant and requested that her bail conditions be allowed to continue.

Papalii’s lawyer also asked the court for one week’s adjournment.

Paramore told the court that if bail was granted, the individuals could easily interfere with the investigation.

Judge Atoa-Saaga said since there was an active investigation relating to the shooting in Vietnam, where two Samoans were arrested and one was killed, the matter was serious.

She told the defense counsel to file risk management measures regarding the concern raised by the prosecution. She adjourned the matter to 23 June. The bail application is also expected to be heard then.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that three more individuals with links to Unalei Rentals were questioned by police and could face similar charges.

The three people who appeared in court have been linked with Joseph Vaa and Steve Tofa. The two Samoans have confessed to shooting and killing Coconut Cartel leader Lorenzo Lemalu in Ho Chi Minh City.

The two were initially identified as Australians; however, it was found that they were using fake identities.

Samoa Police confirmed an investigation in conjunction with Australian authorities to find out how the two Samoans made their way to Vietnam to carry out the killing. Earlier, the Central Bank of Samoa issued an order to freeze the accounts of six people, including the three accused in court and the two men in Vietnam.

Last week, the CBS issued another order freezing the accounts of three more people.