Valali Tonga sentenced over violent March 2023 Smithfield kidnapping

A rapper who kidnapped a Sydney man, then held him hostage at gunpoint while he begged for his release, has learned his fate for his role in the heinous ordeal.

Rapper Valali Tonga performs with the Sydney Yungins before his heinous crime. Picture: YouTube

A kidnapper has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after he ambushed a man in his southwest Sydney home before the victim was tortured for six days, during which time three of his teeth were yanked out with pliers.

Shocking details of the kidnapping were revealed in Parramatta District Court on Friday, when Valali Tonga was sentenced over his role in torturing the victim in a bid to secure a $5m ransom.

Wanting to “impress his friends”, the court heard Tonga, now 22, was part of a group that kidnapped the man from a home in Smithfield breaking into the house and his bedroom with a sledgehammer while he slept on March 9 last year.

After Tonga arrived at the Smithfield home in a “support car” with another man, he waited for four others to dash out of an SUV.

Together, they then stormed the entrance of the home.

Wielding a pistol, Tonga joined the others to force open the victim’s bedroom door shortly before 5.30am.

The victim was held captive in this Belmore house for five days last year. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The man’s family was threatened with guns and assaulted before the victim - who cannot be named for legal reasons – was forced out the house and into the SUV in his underwear.

Judge Sharon Harris said a pillowcase was placed over the victim’s head before he was punched in the face, causing his nose to bleed.

Reading from a statement of facts, she said the victim had been warned: “Don’t do anything stupid or we will shoot you.”

‘Cut your fingers off’: Victim threatened

After transferring into a hatchback, they arrived at a “safe house” on Canterbury Rd in Belmore, where he was interrogated about the wealth of a relative.

The court heard the men demanded the victim tell him how much the relative could “cough up”, where he lived, where he went to the gym and where he kept his money and drugs.

One of the men said: “You have to know something – just give him up or we’re going to cut your fingers off. You better think of something important to tell us about (the relative ) or we’re going to cut your fingers off the next time we come back.’’

The relentless torture continued when he was blindfolded, punched, forced to eat chicken nuggets and struck on the back of his head with a sledgehammer.

The court heard the Crown could not establish whether Tonga was present at the Belmore home when the victim’s teeth were yanked out with pliers. However, he “was aware that it occurred” and continued to participate in the extortion plot.

The teeth were uncovered on a mantlepiece after tactical police stormed the red brick house, finding the man lying on a mattress with multiple wounds and blood.

Tonga held a gun to the captive’s head in the house at Belmore, on busy Canterbury Rd. Picture: Google Maps

‘Do the f--king drop’: Hostage video

Earlier that day, a hostage video had been sent to the victim’s relative.

It showed Tonga holding a gun to the head of the victim, who begged the recipient to drop off $150,000 at Bonnyrigg.

“Do the f---king drop. I just want to go home. Stop delaying it, man,’’ he said.

During a covert police operation, the partial ransom of $150,000 was dropped off inside a car at Bonnyrigg where Tonga – “brazenly” holding the pistol – and another person collected the cash. It was never recovered.

Shortly later, he was arrested with another man at Chelmsford Ave in Belmore.

The court heard the victim did not know the kidnappers but his relative was targeted for the ransom.

An associate and Service NSW employee of accused kidnapper Esau Namoa allegedly provided him with details of the victim’s address using his Lexus number plate.

The friend also allegedly accessed records of the relative from whom the ransom was demanded. The details listed his address as the Smithfield home where the kidnapping occurred.

In May, Tonga pleaded guilty to aggravated break and enter with a weapon, taking or detaining in company with intent to hold for ransom, and possessing an unauthorised pistol.

His sentence was backdated on Friday to the date of his arrest in March 2023, and he will be eligible for parole in July 2028.

‘Very promising career’

A day before he was sentenced, a song was played to the court, showing him rapping to Summer Jam, prompting the aspiring rapper and his large family to stifle laughter.

The Crown argued the song’s lyrics glamourised crime.

However, Tonga’s barrister, Stephen Dayeian, told the court the clip showed his client – a member of the Aria award-winning Sydney Yungins group – had a life on the outside.

“He does have a very promising career awaiting him and he’s done well with all those awards,’’ Mr Dayeian said.

Judge Harris said she did not want to impose a crushing sentence on the former labourer because he was still young, was susceptible to peer pressure and had good prospects of rehabilitation.

A video of Valali Tonga performing Summer Jam was played to the court. Picture: YouTube

In a letter of apology, Tonga – one of 11 children – said he was remorseful, expressing regret that his actions had portrayed western Sydney as a “bad place” and cast Polynesians in a “bad light”.

The court heard he told authorities he was promised “significant monetary reward”, with which he was planning to help his parents financially.

Judge Harris said Tonga thought that “outweighed the risk of being caught’’.

“He denied being a violent person but admitted using physical size to his advantage and understood this was why he was asked to participate in the offences,’’ she said.

Another kidnapper, Lolo Liavaa, has pleaded guilty to breaking and entering to commit a serious indictable offence and taking or detaining in company with intent to hold for ransom.

He is due to face sentencing in the Sydney District Court on December 18.

Four other men - Kiteau Tatafu, Sunia Tu Ineau Junior Siasau, Viliami Siasau and Esau Namoa – have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping charges and are set to face trial in October.