Lorenzo Lemalu killing: Samoa charges two men

Police in Samoa have charged two men with conspiracy to murder Lorenzo Lemalu, a Sydney gangland figure killed outside a seafood restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City in May, Australian Federal Police and Samoan law enforcement said.

The men, one a New Zealander and the other a Samoan, face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted. They appeared in court on Wednesday and were granted conditional bail.

Samoan police allege the pair conspired to murder Lemalu, described as the purported leader of Sydney's so-called "Coconut Cartel" organised crime group. A second man was seriously wounded in the attack.

Two other men were arrested in Vietnam in May over the killing. Vietnamese police said those men had admitted carrying out the shooting in Ho Chi Minh City under the direction of an individual abroad.

Eight Vietnamese people were also arrested in the case for helping in the escape and failing to report the crime.