11 May 2005

Second phase of audit into Development Bank of American Samoa complete

7:45 am on 11 May 2005

The U.S. Department of Interior's Office of Inspector General has completed the second half of the audit review of the Development Bank of American Samoa.

The first phase of the audit review was completed in March conducted by the agency's Honolulu field office.

The audit review followed reports of the Bank showing favoritism toward ranking government officials, board members and their families as well as bank employees.

The Bank's Acting CEO Utu Abe Malae insisted at the time that the audit was about operations and not an investigative one.

However Utu did say if something came up, the matter would be referred to the proper authorities.

He says the second phase was completed last week in which auditors went through the bank's loan portfolios and pulled out files for review.

Utu says the final report will be ready next month.