Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The plea agreement for one of the three defendants in the Department of Human and Social Services (DHSS) Food Stamp scheme was discussed behind closed doors at the High Court last Friday.

Samoa News is unable to report on the conditions of the plea agreement between the government and businessman, Liren Zhang, also known as Kevin.

Zhang appeared in High Court last Friday for a Change of Plea hearing. He was represented by private attorney, William Olson of RDA Law Firm, while prosecuting the case was new Assistant Attorney Attorney, Jason Mitchell, who replaces former prosecutor, Robert Morris.

When Zhang’s case was called in open court, Chief Justice Michael Kruse called both parties to the bench for a brief conference. The attorneys were then instructed by Kruse to meet him “outside” of the courtroom.

The discussion lasted about 5 minutes.

Afterwards, Kruse ordered everyone to clear the courtroom, except for staff members involved with both parties, and family members of the defendant, saying the court will deal with the defendant’s case in “closed door proceedings.”

“This is to ensure that this defendant gets a fair trial,” Kruse said, adding that “we have a small jury pool from which we can make a selection for a jury to hear this case and give the defendant a fair trial.”

Samoa News was unable to obtain a copy of the plea agreement from the court. When asked for a copy, the court clerk  informed Samoa News to speak to one of the two attorneys involved in the case, because it is the court's new procedure not to release information in criminal cases.

Attorneys from both sides did not want to disclose the plea agreement information.

Zhang and one of his two co-defendants, Vincent Toeava, are alleged to be the main players in the Food Stamp fraud case.

Zhang, who is still in custody unable to post a $450,000 surety bond is facing 17 criminal counts, while co-defendant Toeava, who is also in custody unable to post a$450,000 bond is facing 19 criminal counts.

The alleged fraud at DHSS was discovered during a review of why funds for the American Samoa Nutrition Assistance Program (ASNAP) for the first quarter of FY 2018 quickly ran out.

According to the court affidavit, ANZ redeemed $667,555 more for that period than the amount of food coupons ASNAP issued. Furthermore, a subsequent review by DHSS and ASNAP management discovered a high amount of counterfeit ASNAP food coupons redeemed by three ASNAP vendors during that period.

Two of the three named vendors were JFL Malae Store and Fast by Food Mart, both owned by Zhang; and the third one — while the store is named, Harbor View Mart, its owner is not one of the three defendants charged in the case.

Toeava’s case is still pending in High Court, while the third co-defendant, Jane Vasa was sentenced by District Court Judge Fiti Sunia last August to 12 months probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 after she was convicted of misdemeanor stealing, pursuant to a plea agreement with the government.

Vasa agreed to cooperate with the government in return for leniency.