Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga is currently looking for a Director to oversee the Office of Fraud Prevention and Investigation (OFPI) as its former Director, Save Liuato Tuitele has since been appointed the new Police Commissioner. Lolo told Samoa News that for the purpose of tackling fraud, waste and abuse arising within the American Samoa Government, the need to have this office still stands.

In an interview with Samoa News yesterday, the governor however was unclear as to how many cases have been investigated by Save prior to his appointment as Commissioner. Lolo said the idea is to prevent fraud, waste and abuse before it takes place, given that it’s an everyday activity in government no matter who is there.

When this office first opened, Samoa News asked if this office would duplicate the work of the OTICIDE officers and police officers of the Department of Public Safety. At the time, the governor defended the establishment of this office and said it would focus mainly on preventing fraud, waste and abuse within the government, while police and OTICIDE officers will continue on with their duties already set forth.

“If there’s suspicion of possible fraud, they (OFPI) will look into it to determine if there’s a possible case and then it will be referred to the Attorney General’s office and DPS.”   

According to those at the AG’s office, there has been no case referred to their office since the establishment of this office in 2013.

According to the Executive Order by which it was created, the powers and duties of the OFPI include investigating cases of fraud, waste and abuse occurring or which have occurred in the Executive Branch of the government in the form of findings and conclusions in a manner suitable for referral to the Department of Human Resources or to law enforcement authorities, as the case may be, for further proceedings.

According to the Executive Order, the director is to be provided with the necessary staff to carry out duties assigned and this office, aside from the Director, has only one staff member on board.

Samoa News notes that since the office has been established, the lack of cooperation by various  government departments to investigate possible fraud & abuse in their operations has been prevalent, causing many reviews to be stalled and eventually dropped by the OFPI.