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SSIC looks at last year’s fraudulent bank transfer from an ASG account

Malemo and senior staff
Treasury says it didn’t file a report on their investigation of theft…
andrew@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Treasurer Malemo Tausaga, accompanied by three senior staff members, appeared before the Senate Select Investigative Committee last Friday, to shed light on the current progress of investigations into the fraudulent bank transfer last year of $4.4 million from an ASG bank account to Wells Fargo Bank.

They presented a comprehensive report that included all relevant documentation, copies of checks, emails, correspondence with the LBJ Hospital, and paperwork related to the transfer.

As previously reported by Samoa News, Treasurer Malemo last year testified that his department received a notification from LBJ instructing them to transfer the funds to an account at Wells Fargo Bank, which they promptly executed. He confirmed that the notice was on LBJ letterhead and bore the signatures of the Board members.

However, the Treasury later discovered that the letter was fraudulent, neither originating from LBJ nor bearing the authentic signatures of the LBJ Board members.

During their last session before the current four-week recess, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the Senate Select Investigation Committee (SSIC) to investigate the matter and implement safeguards against future scams.

According to the resolution, "it has been over one year since Treasurer Malemo's revelations to the Senate, and no update has been provided to the Fono. The senators are concerned that these federal funds will be lost permanently if not followed up on.

"It is only proper that the Treasurer provide the senators with the date of the last update and what was said or written as received from the FBI regarding the investigation," the resolution stated.

Before the hearing commenced last Friday, SSIC Chairman Senator Togiola T.A. Tulafono clarified its purpose.

"The government does not want a repeat of this scenario," he emphasized. "At present, there is still a lot of uncertainty. We still don't know for sure what actually transpired, who was involved, and how it happened. But one thing is certain: we need to investigate the matter and implement safeguards against future scams."

The Treasurer was accompanied to the hearing by Deputy Treasurer Levi Reese, Chief Accountant Carrie-Lee Magalei, and another accountant, Akenese (full name unknown).

The Treasurer mentioned that he was off-island when the transfer took place, leaving Deputy Treasurer Reese in charge.

When SSIC Chairman Sen. Togiola inquired if his office had conducted an investigation, Malemo confirmed they had. However, when asked if there was a report of the investigation, the Treasurer replied that there was none.

Chief Accountant Magalei stated that she and her staff were the first to identify the fraudulent transfer and promptly acted on it with the Deputy Treasurer.

Togiola mentioned that the committee would like time to review the Treasury report to better prepare questions for the witnesses.

The SSIC will question the Treasury officials tomorrow.

At previous hearings, the Treasurer reported that a total of $4,474,207.09 was transferred.

To date, ASG has recovered $4,373,997.02 from Wells Fargo, leaving a remaining balance of $100,210.07 yet to be returned.

The Treasurer mentioned that they are collaborating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to recover the outstanding amount.