Utah man arrested, charged for trying to rent out fake Airbnb in Hawaii

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — A man was arrested in Utah after allegedly charging thousands of dollars for a fake vacation rental in Hawaii.

Matthew Liutai Tanuvasa, 32, was arrested on one count of theft/deception with a value between $1,500 and $4,999, which is a third-degree felony, according to court documents. After paying for a fake vacation rental, fake taxes, a fake deposit, and fake tickets to an attraction, the victim lost a total of $4,887.

Tanuvasa is accused of charging a victim $3,616 for an Airbnb rental in Hauʻula, Hawaii, that turned out to be a local resident’s permanent home. Tanuvasa also allegedly charged more than $1,250 for tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. The victim reportedly paid for the tickets through Venmo to a relative of Tanuvasa.

Court documents said the victim “discovered [Tanuvasa] had on going cases for fraud out of Northern Utah” before the trip. The victim had a friend in Hawaii go to the supposed rental address, and that friend told the victim that “the rental he paid for was not true,” documents said.

After learning there was a permanent resident in the home, the victim reportedly asked Tanuvasa about the rental, after which the suspect referred the victim to another rental.

Tanuvasa reportedly told the victim that “he was unable to return the money due to legal and financial problems he was in” but promised to pay the victim back soon, according to court documents.

The victim later paid about $5,400 for a new, verified rental and paid another $441 for tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center after learning that there were no prior arrangements made for tickets through Tanuvasa.

After returning from the trip, the victim said Tanuvasa had not paid them back nor made arrangements to pay them back.

Utah police collaborated with Hawaii police, and Hawaii officials made contact with the owners of the home in Hauʻula. The owners said they do not know the suspect, nor do they rent out their home.

After Tanuvasa was taken into custody, he confirmed with police that he did not own the Hauʻula home, but claimed he had rented it out before. He later said that “he knew he was dishonest in his transaction” with the victim, documents said.

Tanuvasa was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility on the aforementioned charge.