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
The bank accounts of two New Zealanders have been frozen as police probe an extraordinary international case of two alleged Samoan hitmen who confessed to murdering a Sydney gang boss.
Joseph Vaa, 27, admitted on Vietnamese television to gunning down suspected 'Coconut Cartel' ringleader Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia, outside a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 21 May.
His associate, Steve Tofa, 23, also called Tafia in some news reports, then confessed to being his accomplice in the shooting.
Fiji police have since confirmed the pair, who are facing down a potential death penalty, transited through the island nation's international airport.
Tovia died at the scene while his associate Sauni Sam, 27, is in intensive care in hospital with serious injuries.
Tovia is believed to be the mastermind behind Sydney's 'Coconut Cartel', which reportedly broke away and declared war on the rival Alameddine gang earlier this year.
Samoa police have frozen the bank accounts of the duo as well as four other people as their investigations into the bizarre international case widen.
Documents obtained by RNZ Pacific show the transnational crime unit issued an urgent directive to the Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) on Wednesday, ordering six accounts and transactions connected to them to be immobilised.
CBS governor Maiava Atalina Ainuu-Enari immediately ordered commercial banks to freeze accounts belonging to Vaa and Tovia "without delay", as well as those belonging to two New Zealand nationals, a United States citizen and a Thai.
Those named in the order, issued on 27 May under Samoa's money laundering laws, were Tafia Tovia (aka Steve Tofa), Vaa Soloa Vaa (aka Joseph Vaa), Connor Songkran Strickert, Fred Olivia Junior Papalii, Olini Atiua and James Tuisavailuu Atua.
The document states the request relates to "an ongoing investigation into a serious violent incident that occurred in Vietnam" and "two Samoan nationals alleged to have been involved in the shooting of another Samoan man, believed to be associated with organised criminal activity".
In a further connection to New Zealand, three people have been stopped by police investigating the gang hit as they tried to board a flight from Samoa to Auckland.
The man, woman and child were bound for Auckland when they were arrested at Faleolo International Airport in Samoa on Thursday, 7 News Australia reported.
A video on Vietnamese television channel VTV9 showed Vaa and Tofa, wearing black hoods and handcuffs, while being marched into a room by police to confess. The footage showed that the two were reading their confessions from a script.
Lorenzo Lemalu, who was shot dead in Vietnam last week. (Supplied) Photo: ABC / Supplied
Fiji police spokesperson Ana Naisoro told RNZ Pacific that the two "travelled through Fiji, using their Samoan passports".
However, Naisoro declined to confirm local media reports that there had been a security breach, which was only discovered after overseas law enforcement agencies shared intelligence with Fijian border officials.
According to local reports, the suspects used fake passports and false names to transit through Fiji's main international airport in Nadi.
Fiji police and immigration are now reportedly working closely with international police networks, including Interpol, to trace the pair's movements during their short stay in the country.
