Case of ASG employee accused of Workmen’s Comp fraud dismissed

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Associate Justice Fiti Sunia has dismissed with prejudice the government’s case against an ASG employee who was accused of engaging in a scheme that defrauded the Workmen’s Compensation Board of a little over $100,000.

(A court case that is dismissed with prejudice means that it is dismissed permanently and can't be brought back to court.)

Angela Monica Langkilde, who was released on a $10,000 surety bond since the government filed their case against her, appeared in High Court last Friday, Feb. 28th, 2020 for a Status Hearing.

Private attorney Marcellus Talaimalo Uiagalelei represented Langkilde while Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey prosecuted.

The status hearing was called by the court to see if both parties were ready for trial, which was scheduled in the middle of this year.

When Langkilde’s case was called in court, the government then asked the court to dismiss their case against Langkilde. The government’s attorney did not present any reason why the government moved to dismiss the case.

Sunia then called both parties to the bench for a brief discussion.

After the discussion between the Judges and both attorneys, Sunia then ordered the government’s attorney to file something in writing to tell the court why they moved to dismiss the case.

Sunia then granted the government’s motion and ordered that the case against Langkilde be dismissed with prejudice.

Ms. Langkilde, in response to an email Samoa News sent asking about the case being dismissed with prejudice said, “I just wanted to say there was a time when you Googled my name it would say that I was a two-time World Champion golfer. Now it has the Samoa News article that was so one-sided.

“I’m happy now my family name is cleared. I want to thank all my family and friends who prayed for me and supported me. Thank our Lord Jesus Christ for hearing our prayers.”

THE ALLEGATION

According to the government, Langkilde, an employee of the ASG Sports Complex, falsely claimed that her foot was injured occurred while performing duties at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Tafuna.

As a result, she allegedly filed a false report with the Workmen’s Compensation Board and paid money to other co-employees, who assisted her with her injury report, resulting in her being compensated a little over $100,000 for the injury.

The injury is alleged to have happened on Apr. 30, 2016 on stadium grounds, when she stepped on a stick with a nail on it. (See Samoa News, Mar. 9, 2018 issue for details.)

(Samoa News understands that Langkilde’s injury ended up getting infected leading to the amputation of the lower leg and that’s the reason for the workman’s compensation.)

The government claimed that before the case was handed over to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to investigate, an internal investigation regarding this matter was conducted by the Department of Human Resources Director (DHR), Eseneiaso Liu. The investigation by the DHR included the interviews of people involved, and a report from the ASG Sports Complex director, Toleafoa Henry Tavake.

The case was then transferred to DPS, where investigators interviewed three employees of the Sports Complex regarding this case, and they testified that Langkilde did not injure herself at work. Two of them also claimed Langkilde had paid them to support her claims.

The three employees including Lotoleaga Lepa; Tuli Fa’aola and Satia Grey, are the same employees who earlier testified in a hearing before the Workmen’s Compensation Council in support of Langkilde’s claims.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

The three employees who told DPS investigators that Langkilde did not injure her foot at work changed their testimony during a preliminary examination before District Court in March of 2018.

Grey told the court that Langkilde’s foot was injured during work at the stadium back in 2016 and he remembered helping her by using the hose to clean the blood off her foot and removing from it, a stick with a nail on it.

Grey further told the court that he was pressured when DPS investigators told him during their interview that lasted over 2 hours that they have all the recordings of a phone conversation between Langkilde and her employees pertaining to this case, and he has to tell the truth.

Afterwards, Grey said he told police that if anything happens to him, he would commit suicide, rather than go to jail.

BACKROUND

Langkilde, according to a family member, has filed a petition with the Administrative Law Judge to have her outstanding salary, including all increments, and benefits for the past two years restored. She alleges the government without her consent paid out her annual leave, sick leave and accrued overtime, and once exhausted she has received no other salary from ASG. She was on paid administrative leave.

Her ALJ case has since been re scheduled due to Cyclone Wasi, and she is currently waiting a new hearing date.