Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — On Monday, Independent Prosecutor Aaron Warren presented a report to the Senate regarding the investigation into the Lemanu- La’apui administration’s unauthorized expenditure of $36 million. The update outlined the progress of the investigation and where it currently stands.

"Due to the nature of this assignment as a confidential investigation, I could be more frank with members of the chamber if this were a closed proceeding but I will leave it up to your discretion as to how you would like to proceed," Warren began.

Senator Togiola T.A. Tulafono expressed the Senate's understanding of the sensitive nature of the situation and assured him that they would only address simple and non-confidential matters.

Togiola explained that the Senate is about to go into recess, and senators are eager to know the current status of the investigation.

This follows the initial three-page interim update that Warren submitted to Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean on July 10th in which he stated that the investigation was still in its preliminary stages. IP Aaron Warren had listed the actions he had taken since his appointment in March.

Warren mentioned that he has been working closely with the Senate President’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Territorial Audit Office to review documents, background information, and available resources for the investigation.

On Monday, he reported that he had completed his preliminary interviews and review of the matter. He is now prepared to move forward with the formal document review and conduct one-on-one interviews with witnesses on record. This will help him make a final determination on the necessary actions his office should take.

The Independent Prosecutor stated that he expects to have a clearer assessment and recommendation for the investigation within 90 days.

Senator Poumele Pete Anoa'i Poumele asked IP Warren for his background information.

Warren stated that he has been an attorney for more than 20 years. His last criminal prosecution was in Micronesia, where he worked in 2015. There, he coordinated with the FBI and the Guam Attorney General's Office to prosecute the first transnational human trafficking case in that country.

Since then, he has returned to private practice and currently works in Nu'uuli at Barry Rose's old office. He said they handle primarily commercial matters, but they have done cases like this when the government has asked. Warren said he was assigned this matter following the statutory process, which goes through the High Court. He has lived in the Territory for five years.

In his first interim update in July, Warren mentioned that the fees invoiced to date had not yet been paid. However, the issue of whether these fees have since been paid was not addressed during Monday’s session.

President Tuaolo requested that the Independent Prosecutor submit another status report by the end of the session in early December, to which Warren agreed.

(Samoa News should point out that the $36 million was noted as a ‘surplus’ by the Administration in FY 2024. However, in the proposed budget for FY 2025 document, the $36 million does not appear in the surplus column for FY 2024, 2023 or 2022.)