By Fuiavailili Keniseli Lafaele
For far too long, the American Samoa Government Employees Retirement Fund (ASGERF) has operated without meaningful transparency or accountability. This op-ed presents my final public statement as a trustee, documenting not only institutional decay but also the systemic failures that demand immediate reform.
“No one man can terrorize a nation unless we are all his accomplices.”
— Edward R. Murrow
In a troubling yet unsurprising turn of events, the ASGERF Board of Trustees has once again affirmed what I have long warned: governance at the Fund is not merely dysfunctional—it is in decay.
Earlier this month, despite no board meeting having taken place since October 2024, the chairman and three trustees moved to reinstate the former executive director (ED), ignoring the formal RFP process and the 15 applicants who had submitted their applications for review. The same ED had submitted his resignation in November 2023—two months after his contract was renewed for an additional two years—citing a desire to retire and spend time with his family. He wished to retire on September 30, 2024, and thus proposed to amend his two-year contract accordingly. This letter was initially withheld from the rest of the board and only shared later, after the board meeting held on April 9, 2024, at which this matter was discussed.
When two trustees raised legal questions about resignation timelines for public officials seeking elective office, the chairman dismissed these concerns. Instead, he pushed through a motion to terminate the ED effective May 2024 and pay out the remainder of his contract through October (the first month of the following FY). I cautioned against the legality of advancing pay for time not worked (and including the following FY funds in paying FY-2024 transactions), and requested a direct written legal opinion, but was rebuffed. The chairman insisted counsel had advised him, and if I disagreed, I was welcome to sue.
Following this, the ED attempted to rescind his resignation, requesting to continue as ED with 30 days of administrative leave before the election. He proposed to return if his campaign failed. A special meeting was called, but again, the chairman sidestepped legal review and polled trustees for their personal views. The board majority reaffirmed their prior decision. The ED’s departure in May 2024 triggered a formal RFP process that yielded 15 applicants. Interviews were scheduled but postponed or canceled due to the trustee’s absence, according to the acting director. Although I was available to participate virtually, I was never provided a Zoom link. As a result, no interviews occurred.
Eight months later, in June 2025, the same former ED was reappointed—echoing his return after losing the 2020 gubernatorial election.
Unjustified Raises, Contract Ambiguities, and Unexplained Expenses
Upon his 2021 reinstatement, the ED received a 53% salary hike—from $85,000 to $130,000. The assistant director’s salary also increased by 33%, from $60,000 to $80,000.
Other staff salaries rose without any documented compensation study to justify the reclassifications. Anecdotal accounts suggest the justification may have been to align with the $100,000 salary paid to the Fund’s legal counsel, who also led a Hawaii-based LLC affiliated with the Fund. No details have been shared about the terms of the ED’s current contract. It remains unclear whether the acting director was compensated at the ED level during her interim tenure, or whether both she and the outgoing ED were paid simultaneously for FY2024 and the start of FY2025. If so, these would be unbudgeted expenses—approved without a board meeting or fiscal adjustment.
At the May 2022 board meeting in Las Vegas, a Fono member questioned the unexplained spike in operating expenses—$5.3 million in FY 2019 and $4.3 million in FY 2020—during the auditor’s presentation. The room fell silent. The auditor glanced awkwardly at the chairman and the ED, and the Fono member, sensing discomfort, did not press the issue further. I pursued the matter in subsequent board meetings, but management cited instructions from the chairman not to release the information. When I asked the chairman directly, he curtly responded: “Forget the past. Move forward.” But if no corrective action is taken, history tends to repeat itself.
In August 2019, ASG repurchased the Hawaiki IRU—the fiber spur linking American Samoa to the main Hawaiki undersea cable—for approximately $18.5 million using bond proceeds raised via ASEDA. I asked whether this amount had been reinvested in the Fund’s investment portfolio. The ED responded that it was deposited into the trust account. However, this does not clarify how the funds were allocated or expended, if not reinvested.
Violations of Transparency, Accountability, and Fiduciary Duty
Ignoring the RFP process and dismissing 15 qualified applicants is a grave injustice. It disrespects the applicants and violates fundamental principles of fairness and fiduciary governance. Included in the 15 applicants were a few highly qualified individuals in the investment space. The board failed its duty to act in the best interest of the Fund and its members.
Worse still, the current chairman—who was vice chairman in 2020—presides over decisions that benefit his own family’s businesses, which continue to hold janitorial, landscaping, and security contracts with the Fund’s building. These contracts are renewed annually without open bidding or performance evaluation.
At the April 9, 2024, board meeting—already packed with controversy over the ED’s resignation and pay—the chairman introduced, without prior notice or an agenda listing, a motion to renew the legal counsel’s contract (mirroring the renewal of the ED’s contract in September 2023). I objected on both procedural and ethical grounds. The Fund’s legal counsel also serves as legal counsel for the Senate, which is the body tasked with providing oversight of the Fund—an inherent conflict of interest.
Moreover, unresolved questions from her original 2022 engagement remain unanswered. Was she hired as an independent contractor or as a regular employee? If the former, why is the Fund paying her Social Security taxes? The ED claimed this was appropriate for an independent contractor—a claim I believe is legally questionable. There is also uncertainty as to whether she held a valid business license at the time of her original hiring. Despite these concerns, the chairman moved the item to a vote. The board majority approved the renewal. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The ASGERF board and management take pride in the fact that the ASGERF board, unlike all other ASG boards, is the only one that doesn’t receive compensation. That theory was quickly disproven and pride evaporated in 2021 when borders closed, and board members could no longer travel off-island for conferences and annual meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The board decided to pay themselves $2000 a month. Moreover, the board approved Christmas bonuses for management and staff.
I inquired whether the board, management, interim legal counsel, and staff were issued tax form 1099s for these incomes. The assistant director replied, “No.” I’m not sure whether the “No” meant the trustees or everyone.
In the FY 2024 audit, the auditor flagged travel documentation as an area of concern. A $30,000 check was cashed in early 2023, allegedly to pay stipends to Fono members attending the annual board meeting in Las Vegas. A rushed board meeting was convened to retroactively approve these stipends. When I asked whether 1099 tax forms were issued for these payments, management offered no answer. To this day, I have not received my 1099 for my 2024 retirement benefits—a recurring issue. Are these forms even sent to retirees and copied to the Treasury and Tax Office? One wonders how much of this income is properly reported for tax purposes.
As of two weeks ago, ASG owed ASGERF approximately $13 million—$11 million in employer contributions and $2 million in employee contributions (or vice versa). Ensuring that retirement benefits are taxed properly would help ASG fulfill its mandatory contributions to the Fund.
This Is What Decay Looks Like
• No board meetings for eight months
• RFP processes ignored
• Performance reviews discarded
• Public funds misused
• Salary hikes without justification
• Contracts renewed without competition
Political Exploitation of the Fund
Beyond poor governance, what’s unfolding now is the full politicization of the Fund. The ED appears to have been granted the Fund by the board as a launching pad for his political quest and a safety net to fall back on in case of failure. The chairman, who also serves as president of the Senate, has used the Fund as a bargaining chip, positioning board control as leverage in territorial politics. This month, he orchestrated a move to reappoint the former executive director, secure his re-election as chairman, and maneuver my ousting from the board (pending the Governor’s approval).
Why the rush? Because the chairman knows the governor intends to reconstitute the board and appoint a new executive director. By reinstating his preferred ED and consolidating power just weeks before the Legislature reconvenes to consider the territorial budget and gubernatorial board appointments—including those for the Retirement Fund—the chairman is effectively signaling: leave my Fund board intact, and the Senate will cooperate with your agenda.
This same hostage playbook was used with the prior administration, confirming that the Fund is not just misgoverned — it has been weaponized.
Personal Attacks as a Distraction
In response to the issues raised in my open letters, the chairman has chosen not to engage the facts but to attack me personally. In a recent podcast interview, he dismissed my concerns and instead launched into a lalau—a Samoan term for public shaming or trash talking, traditionally wielded by women. Today, men are equally adept at dishing it out, especially politicians. Tune in to a podcast or a parliamentary session in independent Samoa, and you’ll likely witness lalau in action. Watch the national news, and even POTUS—Mr. Trump—can be seen using his own brand of lalau against other politicians or world leaders. So, the chairman—a politician himself—has lalau as an arrow in his quiver. Fair enough.
The chairman’s attacks on me, however, are more than petty distractions—they are deliberate efforts to silence dissent by discrediting critics. It’s not the first time. In a prior board meeting, when I questioned his authority in collaborating with the ED to withhold information relevant to the review and passage of the Fund budget from the trustees, he resorted to the same tactics. But let me be clear: I did not raise these issues for personal gain. I did so because the integrity of the Fund—and the future of its members—is at stake. In the interview, the chairman alluded to his impeccable reputation. It seems he was referencing his socio-economic background, cultural background, church affiliation, and colorful work history, all of which were crafted on a high school education.
Chairman Tualolo’s impressive success is legendary and deserves applause and recognition. However, I respectfully challenge the chairman to return the focus to where it belongs: the issues, the facts, and the fiduciary responsibility we owe to every member of this Fund—all six thousand plus of them.
Finally, I want to share this Biblical wisdom with the chairman, trustees, legal counsel, executive director, and his management team: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his soul? Is there anything in this world more valuable than one’s soul?” Let us ponder that. Let us pray about it, for the sake of our customers—the members and beneficiaries of the Fund—who have not received a COLA since 2019.
Let Us Organize. Let Us Act. Let Us Build.
The fight for accountable governance is not personal—it is generational. We owe it to ourselves, to fellow members, and to those who will rely on this Fund long after we are gone. If you are a member, retiree, or beneficiary of the ASGERF and wish to protect its future, email me at keniseli.lafaele55@gmail.com or call me at 733-5515 to join in early organizing efforts.
We act not out of bitterness, but belief—that the members deserve a voice, and the Fund deserves a future.
“We do this for those we hold dear and those we will never meet.”
— Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
