Ads by Google Ads by Google

O&O employees arrested — $19K worth of merchandise stolen

American Samoa District Court building
blue@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Three employees of O&O Enterprises in Nuuuli have been arrested and charged for their connection in an alleged scam that cost the company over $19,000

Kalala Leilua, Arona Ma'a, and Siueli Blake are facing multiple charges of stealing. All three are being held at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF).

Bail for Leilua is set at $20,000, Ma'a's bail is set at $5,000 while Blake is being held with 'no bail' due to her immigration status.

This past Monday, Christmas Eve, all three defendants were present in District Court for their initial appearances. Requests from defense counsel, Assistant Public Defender Anna Wells, to reduce the bail amounts for Leilua and Ma'a were denied by District Court Judge Fiti Sunia.

In Ma'a's case, Sunia said the charges stem from a "detailed matter" and therefore, bail will not be reduced. For Leilua, counsel Wells argued that although there are "a lot of counts" in the criminal complaint, her client is non-violent and she has ties to the community.

Sunia said the determining factor is the amount alleged to have been stolen — in this case, $19,000. Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey opposed the motion and Sunia agreed.

For Blake, the court was informed by an immigration officer that her ID expired in 2015 and currently, her sponsor is off island. "She's been off island for three years?" Sunia asked. Given these circumstances, he continued, Blake is remanded to custody on a 'no bail' status.

THE CASE

According to the criminal complaint, the owner of O&O Enterprises had flagged down a police unit on Nov. 28th, asking if they could investigate some of his employees, suspected of stealing wholesale items and selling them to retail stores.

Ko, the company owner, told police that he was off island and left his nephew in charge. He said he was notified that the inventory didn't match the items that were in the warehouse and the containers.

Ko first questioned his supervisor, Leilua, who allegedly apologized and confessed, saying she had been stealing supplies from the warehouse and the containers, and selling them to Lucky Seven Store in Nuuuli, for money.

Leilua allegedly told Ko that she shared the money with other co-workers. She went on to name everyone involved and Ko called them in, one by one, for questioning.

According to Ko, "everyone got involved because they were taking orders from warehouse manager, Siueli Blake, and Leilua."

In addition to the three defendants, three other O&O employees were named but they are not being criminally charged, as they are witnesses and they were only taking orders from Leilua and Blake.

 ARONA MA'A

The company owner said Ma'a knows the majority of Asian storeowners, including Jianoiang Gao, the owner of Lucky Seven Store, where the alleged stolen items were being sold.

When questioned by police, Ma'a, a long time employee at O&O, said he could recall his first contact with Gao, but he allegedly admitted that he stole items from O&O and sold them to Lucky Seven. Ma'a said he could only recall stealing for Gao 4 times during September 2018.

During that time, according to Ma'a, Gao instructed him to steal cases of Spam and black pepper. The alleged scheme went something like this: Gao would come in an buy a box of foam plates for $17.75 and Ma'a would allegedly take the plates out of the box and replace them with cases of Spam and black pepper. Ma'a would then hand carry the box to Gao who would hand Ma'a a receipt to verify that he made a purchase. Gao would then pay Ma'a $80 cash in return.

Ma'a allegedly told police that the same mode of operation was used throughout the month of October. According to the criminal complaint, "An invoice of the stolen items was rewritten based on Ma'a's knowledge of the 4 transactions with Gao…. Ma'a took, in total, 40 cases of Spam and 26 cases of black pepper, totaling $2,460."

KALALA LEILUA

When questioned by police, Leilua allegedly said that she and Blake were the ones who coordinated the theft. According to her, she would visit Lucky Seven Store and meet with Gao's cousin (Lua a.k.a. Chong) who basically ran the operation for Gao.

Leilua said she would get requests for items from Lua, and she would relay the message to Blake.

According to Leilua, as a manager, Blake would instruct other employees to load up the truck with products requested by Lua and have them delivered to Lucky Seven.

Altogether, according to the criminal complaint, a total of 9 deliveries were made to Lucky Seven. The first one involved 150 cases of sugar (various weights) valued at $2,587.50.

In return, Lua gave Leilua $500 which was split as follows: Blake got $240 Leilua got $100 and  two other employees: Sione Moli a.k.a. Kini, and Ioane Malaeola got $80 each.

The second delivery involved 30 boxes a shrimp chips valued at $1,107.

For this transaction, Lua gave Leilua $250 cash. Blake got $100, Leilua got $60, Moli received $50 and Malaeola got $40.

The third delivery included 30 boxes of onion rings and 50 boxes of cuttlefish valued at $1,503.50.

The kickback Leilua received from Lua was $450.

Blake got $200, Leilua received $80, Moli received $60, Malaeola got $40 and another employee, Saipele Vaigafa got $20.

The fourth delivery saw the delivery of 50 boxes of Tako chips valued at $1,025

Leilua got $250 as payment from Lua. Blake received $100, Leilua got $50, Moli got $50, Malaeola got $30 and Vaigafa received $20.

The fifth delivery included 200 cases of bowl saimin valued at $1,810.

As a reward, Leilua was given $1,000 from Lua.

Blake got $500, Leilua received $160, Moli got $160, Malaeola received $120 and Vaigafa received $60.

The sixth delivery included 150 cases of sugar (various weights) valued at $2,587.50.

Leilua got $500 of which Blake received $240, Leilua got $100, Moli received $80, Malaeola got $60 and Vaigafa was given $20.

The seventh delivery included 60 cases of Wesson oil (various weights) valued at $1,935.

Leilua got $500 for that deal. Blake received $240, Leilua got $100, Moli received $80, Malaeola got $60 and Vaigafa received $20.

The eighth delivery included 50 cases of Irish Spring soap valued at $1,675.

Leilua received $500 for that delivery. Blake got $240, Leilua received $100, Moli got $80, Malaeola got $60 and Vaigafa got $20.

The ninth and final delivery — during the third week of August — included 200 cases of saimin cup valued at $2,050.

Leilua was given $1,000 for the deal. Blake kept $500 for herself, Leilua received $160, Moli got $160, Malaeola got $120 and Vaigafa received $60.

SIUELI BLAKE

When police interviewed Blake, she broke down and told them that she and Leilua wanted extra money so they asked Ma'a for Gao's phone number. According to her, they've known that Ma'a was stealing items from the wholesale for Gao and Lucky Seven.

Blake said Leilua was sent to Lucky Seven to ask Gao if he needed anything, and they could steal it from the O&O warehouse.

Blake said every morning, she and Leilua assisted the boys with the deliveries at the warehouse. She said whatever Gao told Leilua he needed, they would instruct the boys to load those items on to the truck and have them delivered to Lucky Seven.

She said deliveries to Lucky Seven were given priority, and they would be the first ones out before orders were filled for other stores.

Blake allegedly told police that Leilua and Moli would deliver the items while the rest of them stayed back and when Leilua returned with the payment, they would split it, and she would "always have the biggest share."

Blake also allegedly told investigators that because she was the manager, everyone took orders from her and while she doesn't recall exactly how many times she stole from the warehouse, she believes it was more than ten times.

The criminal complaint notes that the total amount of the items stolen from O&O (involving Ma'a, as well as Blake and Leilua) is $19,808.92.

When detectives questioned Malaeola, he said he was not aware of the theft, and he was only following orders from their manager, Blake and supervisor, Leilua.

Moli and Vaigafa echoed the same thing.

Gao was interviewed by police and through a translator, he denied the accusations made by Ma'a and said the only encounter he had with Ma'a was when Ma'a asked for cigarettes.

When asked to provide information about his cousin Lua, Gao refused and declined to set up an interview between Lua and police.

Blake is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary examination on January 9, 2019

Ma'a's PX is set for Jan. 10, 2019 and Leilua is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 10, 2019 for an Order to Show Cause and a preliminary examination.