8 Mar 2004

American Samoa's Congressman calls in auditors after fears that federal funds are being used offshor

7:48 am on 8 March 2004

Auditors from the US federal General Accounting Office have arrived in American Samoa to review 12 federal grants and programmes being run in the territory.

The audit is evaluating the extent to which these grants and prgrammes have met performance standards.

The review was initiated at the request of Congressman Faloemavaega Eni Hunkin.

He said he was concerned about the influx of Asian businesses and wanted to track whether federal funds intended for economic development and social programmes for American Samoans were being funnelled elsewhere.