Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The LBJ hospital’s former Chief Financial Officer Emau Amosa retained legal representation after he was placed on administrative leave on February 9, 2023 and his services were terminated several days later.

According to Amosa, the hospital board and new management at the time Moefaauo Bill Emmsley took office as CEO “acted like new majority shareholders of an American Corporation conducting a hostile takeover of the hospital.”

Samoa News obtained the correspondences between the hospital’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Akapusi Ledua and Mr Amosa.

In early February the Acting CEO of the hospital placed Amosa on administrative leave “until further notice”.

Dated February 9, 2023 Dr Ledua cited that an investigation into accounting irregularities including the destruction of the 2019 financial records, pose serious audit concerns.

 “We discussed this issue in our meeting on February 5, 2023, which was attended by you.

 “Your leave does not mean that we have already decided that you have done or not done an action or behavior that is misconduct or serious misconduct.

 “We will not keep you on leave for longer than is necessary for us to carry out the investigation and decide on action to be taken, if appropriate. We can lift the leave at any time,” said Dr Ledua.

The letter also stated that should serious misconduct be discovered, the letter shall serve as notice of termination. 

 “During your leave, we will continue to pay you under your employment agreement.

 “Your employment is continuous during your leave and your terms and conditions of employment continue to apply.

 “In particular, you are reminded that you must not disclose any confidential information.

 “You must not discuss this matter or investigation with the press nor make any posts on social media regarding the same.

 “Should you discuss this matter or the investigation with the press or make posts on social media without the express permission of the Chief Executive Officer it will be grounds for immediate termination.”

Dr Ledua also inform Amosa that he must not carry out any work duties nor go into the workplace. 

 “You must cooperate with our investigation.

 “You may need to attend the workplace for interviews or other meetings related to your leave or matters under investigation.

 “ You must be available to answer any work-related queries. You must not have any contact with any other staff, contractors, or customers unless authorized by me.

 “Your email account will be suspended and you will not have access to our IT network during your leave.

 “You must hand in your work mobile phone to myself while you are on leave.

 “You must return company equipment including laptops and/ or vehicles while you are on leave, I will be in contact to arrange pick-up/drop-off. “You must also hand in your identity card and keys; we will keep these while you are on leave.”

Dr Ledua says that when the investigation is complete, they will inform Amosa of the outcome.

 “If we think that there are grounds for disciplinary action, we will invite you to a disciplinary meeting and you will have the opportunity to provide your response to this at the meeting in accordance with your Employment Agreement and our policies and procedures. 

 “As this matter is currently under investigation, please keep it confidential and do not discuss it with your colleagues,” said Ledua.

Four days later, Dr Ledua sent another letter this time to terminate the services of Amosa.

Dr Ledua pointed out that Amosa’s services at the hospital were terminated for cause effective March 7, 2023.

 “As you are aware and investigation was conducted into your conduct while employed by the hospital during the course of that investigation at least two events were identified which breached the standards of employee conduct expected of hospital employees.

 “The first and most concerning incidents is the destruction of the hard copy of the 2019 financial records this is a clear violation of accounting standards and practices which you were required to be familiar with as the chief financial officer for the hospital.

 “Furthermore because it is such a significant deviation from standard practice it raises serious concerns that it was done in an effort to obfuscate potential wrong doing.”

Samoa News reported earlier out that in the termination of the former CFO Fala Sualevai-Lesa the alleged destruction of financial records against Amosa were a result of a report she made to the board, which was later confirmed to be “untrue” as there are electronic copies of the financial reports.

Dr Ledua, in his letter cited that the second incident that led to Amosa’s termination was his personal involvement with Samoa Commercial Printing.

According to Dr Ledua as chief financial officer, Amosa by statute was the Chief Procurement Officer.

 “In that role is your responsibility to procure or supervise the procurement of goods and the services needed for LBJ tropical medical center.

 “During this period you were acting as CPO officer Samoa Commercial Printing was repeatedly awarded contracts for the procurement of products without competitive bidding.

 “As noted it is an ethical violation for an employee to participate in the procurement process when the employee has a financial interest pertaining to the procurement.

 “The investigation into events that occurred during the course of your employment is ongoing and should additional information be revealed, appropriate action will be taken including referral to local and federal authorities,” said Dr Ledua.

In response Amosa rubbished the claims by the Acting CEO. Amosa responded in a letter dated Feb 20, 2023.

 “I am confused and baffled by your decision to place me on leave while an investigation into what you call accounting irregularities and the destruction of investigation into what you call accounting irregularities and the destruction of records of fiscal year 2019 is ongoing.

 “This letter is addressed to those who conducted and publicized the investigation, defaming my name especially to those who had slander and destroyed my reputation.

 “I am first and foremost, the Ombudsman, but I shall try to explain my experience with the issues at hand.”

Amosa had been removed as CFO and appointed Ombudsman by the former CEO, Moefaauo.

 “My contract as a CFO was terminated about eight months ago and I was given a new role with a suggestion by the former CEO for a new contract.

 “My questions are, Why the investigation? Who did the investigation? How much does it cost?” asked Amosa.

He pointed out that experience dictates that a Board of Directors direct and not manage the affairs of the hospital.

 “They pick up from the deliverables where the last Board had left. A board of Directors must never be visible in the hospital because it undermines the authority of your own management.

 “Management on the other hand, is required to report to the Board once a month.

 “From a practical point of view, I believe that the Board of directors is merely an extension of the Governors authority.

 “Your political unpaid role is to inform him of the condition of the hospital and let him make decisions for the hospital; after all he is the elected Governor of American Samoa, the one my family voted for.”

He said that experience also reminds that according to federal regulations they are required to keep up to three years of hard copy for all records except payroll records, which requires the time sheets be kept for seven years.

 “This is an old regulation before the age of computers.

 “But with the advent of computers, we are blessed with a second and affordable mean of keeping these data.

“So if the hard copies are destroyed, you still have the electronic copies.

“The hospital since then, was moving towards a paperless authority. I do not remember or even understand why I would destroy these records.

 “After all, FY2019 has already been audited and the board of directors had approved it.

 “It is irrelevant because you were not only here.”

According to Amosa the Board of directors and management at the time did not raise the issue, primarily because it is immaterial and insignificant and impractical due to the steady growth of the hospital.

Amosa also criticized the move to hire Dr Joseph Shaumway as Chief Medical Officer.

 “Your recent action of hiring an expert CMO to fix the problem like you see it, is a repetition of the history of the LBJ hospital.

 “Remember CEO Kirk with a resume like the bible, he was in office for less than six months, why, primarily because he was out of touch with reality.

 “This is American Samoa; and we shall maintain its momentum of growth just like everything else in American Samoa.”

He further noted that when Moefaauo was appointed as CEO; “he tried to operate a dream hospital, which; instead of building the foundation upon the status quo (FS 2021) like every other new management, decided to have its foundation planted in midair.

 “I was never consulted by either the CEO or CFO for the Status Quo.

 “A lot of new changes were introduced immediately both in personal and system designs without consulting with the previous officers.

 “The negative effects of these changes were compounded by the urgent attention demanded by the ARPA projects.

 “The Experiences and know how were highly demanded, unfortunately more resources are expended on training and familiarization of new personnel.

 “Like the old saying ‘if something is not broken don't fix it’ your appointed Management tried so hard to fix a growing entity thinking that it is a full grown one.”

Amosa also noted that the predominant rationale behind such strategy was based on the team’s beliefs that all is corrupted at LBJ as if the previous Board and Administrations were just a bunch of thieves and fools.

 “The team have acted like new majority shareholders of an American Corporation conducting a hostile takeover of the hospital.

 “The fact remains that you are just another stakeholder like us.”

He also addressed the issue of Samoa Commercial Printing.

 “This issue was discussed and dealt with by the previous Board of Directors (Chairman Mase Akapo) and found it irrelevant, impractical and immaterial.

 “Why penalize a small local business just because a relative is employed by the hospital?

“Secondly, it is immaterial and irrelevant because the amount of business conducted between the hospital and Samoa Commercial Printing is less than .01% of the annual budget.”

According to Amosa is it normal for a new administration to be concerned about the financial condition of any government entity during the time of change; however when the new administration took over in 2022 the hospital had more than $10 million in cash surplus.

 “It’s financial health was more than good. So why 2019?” he asked.

Furthermore Amosa queried what would accounting posting errors from four years ago (FY 2019) have to do with the growth or momentum of the hospital in 2022?

“It is sad to believe that the only possible motive behind this investigation is to find a reason to destroy my name and to terminate my 21 year service.

 “Please note that all irregularities that you now accuse me during my tenure as a CFO was done and being executed when you terminated my service, more than eight months ago without cause.

 “It was a great mental stress on me, my family and my congregation. It implied that I have committed a crime.

“I asked you to let me finish my contract, because the system is almost completed but you turned me down.

“Therefore, another penalty for the same act of being CFO is a double jeopardy.”

Furthermore Amosa noted that placing him on leave alongside the removal of the CEO had a negative impression on his reputation to the employees and to the public.

 “It gives the public an impression that I am a part of whatever legal reasons you have to terminate your CEO. The fact remains that he was the one who remove[d] me from the CFO position.

 “The CEO has a closed door policy.

“You have to schedule an appointment with the secretary in order to talk to him. I was consulted at least five times for the secretary in order to talk to him. I was consulted at least five times for matters concerning the Ombudsman’s role during the last eight months including the time when I was told to prepare opening remarks for the ASG including the time when I was told to prepare opening remarks for the ASG Christmas Choir festival.

 “I was not even part of the team.

 “Now, if my alleged actions are not considered criminal, why do you need to lock me out of my office? Don’t you think it is disrespectful and disgraceful? I have worked for the hospital for more than 21 years,” said Amosa.

 “Finally, the implication of the comment made by the CMO on your TV press release that I “deal under the table” upset my family and my congregation.

 “The local community define[s] those words as ‘stealing”’.

 “So you have given me no choice but to seek justification for this accusation to retain my good name.

 “The fact still remains that my 21 years of experience in Accounting and Finance for healthcare facility with ASMCA, especially my last 5 years as CFO gives me the competitive advantages to be the best and most suitable candidate to remain the chief Financial officer for the hospital.

“I shall fully cooperate with the investigation; and with all the demands for me to standby for the investigation,” concluded Amosa.