If anyone in the American Samoa Government ever sends you an email offering a strategy to turn $10 million into $20 million in under six weeks, do not reply. Tell them to change their passwords.
Unless, of course, that email came directly from the Governor’s office—in which case, congrats, you’ve just witnessed how $10 million of federal ARPA funds went on an extended vacation to Kansas and forgot to write home.
The Math That Made Everyone’s Jaws Drop
Here’s the setup: Back in March, the ASG had around $11 million sitting peacefully in an ARPA interest account at Zions Bank. Enter Governor Pula’ali’i Nikolao Pula, who issued a direct instruction: wire $10 million over to a firm out in Kansas called "McKinley Beech Tree". The officially listed goal? "Airport Infrastructure".
Now, according to testimony from Acting Treasurer Carri-Lee Magalei-Tulafono during Tuesday’s Senate Government Operations hearing, the verbal timeline pitched to her went something like this:
March: Wire $10,000,000 to Kansas.
Late April / Early May: Receive $10,000,000 back… PLUS an extra $10,000,000 bonus.
A 100% return in under two months? That isn’t high-yield institutional investing; that’s the kind of return usually promised by a guy in a YouTube ad claiming he trades crypto from a mansion in Dubai.
Fast forward to August 31st, and total returns logged so far? Exactly $0.00.
"Who Exactly Authorized This?"
During the hearing, Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean and Committee Chair Senator Togiola Tulafono tried to trace the paper trail.
Was there a pitch deck? No. A written contract outlining risk parameters and collateral? Nope. Did anyone check with the Attorney General before signing the transfer? Negative.
The entire paper trail for a ten-million-dollar wire essentially boils down to an email sent on March 16th where the Governor authorized the transfer, copying a guy named Brett Butler.
Who is Brett Butler, you ask? Good question. He’s the "Executive Treasury Specialist" who didn’t pass Fono confirmation, yet was apparently the person feeding the details about the "double-your-money by May" return target.
When Senator Togiola asked how Magalei-Tulafono ended up in the Acting Treasurer chair to sign the transfer, she admitted she didn't even want the job in the first place—Butler had simply nominated her to the Governor as a temporary stand-in.
Where Was That Money Supposed to Go?
Remember when the public was told that interest from federal ARPA funds would be used to pay off ASG’s massive debt to the Retirement Fund? The Senate remembers.
Instead of settling debts at home, $10 million was shipped off to middle-America under the guise of funding "airport infrastructure," leaving a lonely $1 million lingering in the bank account.
The Senate is now hauling in Brett Butler, alongside the Directors of ARPA and Medicaid, to explain where the money actually is and why basic financial oversight was treated like an optional setting.
Until then, if someone contacts you promising to double your savings in 45 days, remind yourself: even government treasuries fall for it sometimes.