Samoan official accused
of rigging contract bids

An official of the American Samoan Department of Human and Social Services has been accused of conspiring to rig bids for contracts totaling more than $120,000 in exchange for cash kickbacks.

Patolo Mageo, responsible for approving purchases and contracts for the department, is named in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court by the U.S. Department of Justice. Co-conspirators, including an official of the U.S. territory of American Samoa who operated a construction company that received at least two of the contracts, were not named.

Under American Samoa's procurement rules, all contracts valued at more than $10,000 must be put up for bid.

According to the complaint, in early 2002, Mageo approved several contracts valued at more than $10,000 each, including two construction contracts to the Samoa Wood Products company for the Women, Infants and Children government building in American Samoa.

Mageo allegedly agreed to preset the amounts charged in the contracts, eliminating any competitive bidding. He also agreed to authorize payment of the purchase orders submitted by Samoa Wood Products and did so even if the work was not completed, the complaint said. Mageo also allegedly falsified reports and directed others to submit bogus reports indicating the work had been performed.

Mageo allegedly accepted $10,000 from Samoa Wood Products in exchange for the contracts. The contracts were paid for with American Samoan Department of Treasury funds and funding from the U.S. Department of Interior and other federal agencies.