Former Human Resources Director Evelyn Vaitaotolu Langford is denying that a company called EMLA Aviation was working closely with the Native Hawaiian Holding Company (NHHC), Community Investment Corporation (CIC), American Samoa Culinary Academy (ASCA), yet employees of ASCA place her as a principal of EMLA and the person that conducted the interviews for the people who were hired as the the ASCA management team.

Samoa News has documents indicating that Langford was working with these companies, at the same time while serving as Human Resources Director administering the contract with NHHC.

NHHC was contracted to provide training and employment in the contact center industry for 900 (National Emergency Grant) NEG participants and was authorized to operate job placement and supportive services in a setting that would serve as part of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Workforce System. This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s NEG grant.

Samoa News understands that Langford conducted the interviews for the ASCA management team along with Chef Sualua Tupolo and Nancy Kupa, a former administrative assistant with the Department of Human Resources. Kupa told Samoa News that she resigned from DHR and was hired to work for EMLA Aviation. She told Samoa News yesterday, EMLA Aviation with which Langford was “highly involved” was a company that was not established in the territory.

Samoa News sent queries to Langford in regard to her involvement with EMLA Aviation; this is her response in full text.

“In response to your inquiries, EMLA Aviation did not conduct business with CIC, NHHC or ASCA; these are companies that were operating under a service contract with the American Samoa Government,” said Langford.

It appears that Langford did not deny working with EMLA Aviation a company which former ASCA employees and Kupa claim was working closely with ASCA, NHHC and CIC.

Kupa noted that EMLA Aviation was not established locally yet on her pay stub that Samoa News obtained, there were withholdings for American Samoa Tax, Social Security and Medicare.

Samoa News understands EMLA Aviation was also led by Quin Rudin and also by Langford, who was highly involved in ASNEG/NHHC projects.

Rudin is the NHHC partner who is accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars of cash and equipment from Cisco Systems, Inc.

An NHHC/ASCA employee Karalina Prendergast told Samoa News that during tele-presence meetings, Langford was present, speaking directly to Rudin about the NEG projects.

On Wednesday, about 20 employees of ASCA, who claim they are are owed $11,403.33 in salaries sought assistance from HR Director Le’i Sonny Thompson. The ASCA employees led by Prendergast told the HR Director what had occurred and that they were NEG employees who have yet to be paid.

She further told the Director that they have all their time cards to prove that they were working and not compensated. At the closing of the meeting the HR Director informed the ASCA employees to submit all the documents of their time, and it would be taken under advisement.