Forensic Audit Report referred to Attorney General’s Office

By Lagi Keresoma/

Apia, SAMOA – 02 April 2026: The Attorney General will act on the long-awaited Forensic Audit findings after Cabinet approved the report in their meeting last week.

Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt confirmed that the Cabinet directive has been given to the Attorney General to act on the report and its findings.

The Forensic Audit is one of the FAST Government initiatives when its first administration took over in July 2021 and the New Zealand auditing company Binder Dijker Otte (BDO) was contracted to conduct an independent forensic audit of a number of identified government projects.

BDO started their investigation and auditing on 13 of the 25 Government projects listed for the forensic audit.

When the current Government took office, the report was referred to a Cabinet Sub Committee headed by the Minister of Revenue, Pauga Te’omatavui Talalelei Pauga who is an auditor himself for review.

The committee noted some major issues in the report that included the “absence of receipts and documentations of expenditure of project funds, lack of clarity of personnel who led the projects under investigation and the lack and incomplete evidence such as Cabinet papers (PK) and Cabinet decisions (FK) of specific projects under investigation.”

With Cabinet’s endorsement, it is now up to the Attorney General to act on the report and its findings.

Projects listed for Forensic Audit Phase 1 include:

• The Ti’avea Airport Project
• $50 Stimulus for National ID
• Sheraton Hotel & Bungalows Apia Beach Road
• Lease of the Samoa Airways Aircraft
• Building of the new prison at Tanumalala & Savaii
• SNPF new headquarters at Salelologa, Savaii
• New Electoral Office Mulinu’u
• Samoa National Broadband Highway & School-net Project
• Underground Cabinet Network Arrangement (MCIT)
• Satitoa Port/wharf
• Nafanua Patrol Boat accident
• Tax Invoice Monitoring System (TIMS)
• Purchasing of the Ministry of Works computers
• Purchase of two vehicles from Scholastic Books for MESC
• Instalment of electricity to Falelatai & Samatau in 2019-2020 & usage of EPC funds for election campaign
• Accountability for funds used by the former Prime Minister, Cabinet & the late Chief Justice under the Civil List Act
• Unforeseen & Unauthorized funds under the Act
• Tenders Board