Press Release On The Public Auditor's Findings On Its Audit of the MPLA Files

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Public Information and Protocol Office
Office of the Governor
Caller Box 10007
Capitol Hill
Saipan, MP 96950
Tel: (670) 664-2276
Fax: (670) 664-2290



PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Date: July 5, 2007

Administration Pursues MPLA Land Compensation Cases

Governor Benigno R. Fitial has instructed the Office of the Attorney General to thoroughly review a report prepared by the Office of the Public Auditor. The report details serious abuses in land compensation payments made by the Marianas Public Lands Authority, which Governor Fitial abolished and replaced with the Department of Public Land shortly after taking office in 2006.

In its report, OPA found that MPLA did not follow its own stated regulations or the relevant public laws, including the CNMI Land Compensation Act, in processing land compensation claims.

Some of OPA’s findings include the following:

*Evidence of preferential treatment in a number of land compensation cases. Some claims may have been influenced by family relationships, nepotism, or other close personal relationships.

*Evidence of excessive compensation.

*Claims paid contrary to proper procedures. Claims were not resolved in proper order. Land claims were paid out of turn and older claims were ignored.

*MPLA did not award compensation based on the actual time of taking, resulting in significant overpayments for the government.

*Documents were missing to support land claims.

*Substantial land claim payments were made with insufficient documentation.

*Some appraisal reports were ignored.

*Administrative hearings were not properly conducted to determine reasonable valuations of disputed property claims. In some cases, appraisals were not used to determine proper real estate values.

*The government paid for land that was not actually needed.

*Land exchanges were not equitable or proportional to the land seized for public use. A land compensation claimant might forfeit one lot only to gain two or three additional lots in exchange for a lot of considerably lesser value. Five out of seven land exchanges reviewed by OPA exceeded the legal limit of a two to one ratio. In one case, a landowner benefited from a 16 to 1 land exchange ratio in his favor.

*MPLA’s Land Compensation Task Force Review Committee may have “operated without any written rules, regulations, procedures, or guidelines.” No written records of claim meetings were kept.

As a result of these land compensation abuses, more than $28 million in land compensation bonds or trust funds were depleted, leaving many other landowners uncompensated for condemned property.

Governor Fitial instructed the office of the Attorney General to place the highest priority on the investigation of these white collar corruption cases involving the former MPLA.

“I have asked the Attorney General’s office to prosecute these cases without delay,” said Fitial. “We cannot excuse such a gross abuse of public funds,” said the Governor.

Assistant Attorney General Michael Nisperos has been assigned the task of reviewing these possible criminal cases. Anyone with information about MPLA abuses should contact Mr. Nisperos to report or assist with these investigations. Mr. Nisperos may be reached through the Office of the Attorney General.

Previously, OPA reported on a series of MPLA travel abuses. The Fitial administration released this report to the public and has also urged the Office of the Attorney General to investigate the reported travel abuses for possible criminal prosecution.

Ana Demapan Castro was the chairwoman of MPLA’s board of directors until the agency was abolished by the Fitial administration in 2006. The agency operated with high travel costs, excessive employee and consultant compensation, and questionable land compensation transactions.

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Charles P. Reyes Jr.
Press Secretary for Governor Benigno R. Fitial
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Caller Box 10007
Saipan, MP 96950
Tel: (670) 664-2276
Fax: (670) 664-2290

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My Comments:

Mike Nesperos, the Assistant Attorney General referred to in this press release, was brought to the CNMI to handle these types of cases. In this instance, Mr. Nesperos is not related to anybody here (other than his wife), which is important on a small island such as ours. Hence, he should proceed with building and prosecuting such cases expeditiously. Good luck, Mr. Nesperos! I urge all of you -- the public -- to watch and follow this very carefully!

Corporal Lee Roy Apatang Camacho's Funeral

Cpl. Lee Roy Apatang Camacho's funeral was yesterday. :(

The Kaipat family choir was asked to sing at Lee Roy's Responso service at Mt. Carmel Cathedral.

On the way to church, I contacted my office to request that the Governor recognize/include Jesse Castro in his rememberance of the CNMI sons who lost their lives in Iraq. This was a promise I made to Jesse's mother Doreen, widow Theresa, and sister Lisa who all came up from Guam to attend Adam Quitugua Emul's funeral. I kept my fingers crossed that Charles Reyes, the Governor's press secretary, would be able to work his magic on the Governor's speech as I proceeded to church. I got there before 7:30 a.m.

We sang for a couple of hours in tribute to Lee Roy during and after the Responso and rosary services. Aye Adai... It's hard to hold the tears back, let alone sing through the grief all around us. Sigh....!

Sudden death is something my family is all too familiar with. My father was killed when I was 10 years old and I lost a brother in 1992. Both happened suddenly, so unexpectedly, in hugely dramatic and traumatic ways that have affected our lives even today. Yes, this pain is all too familiar. How I hurt for these families who are now going through this endless nightmare. It's going to be a long and rocky road. GOD, I pray for their strength to go on even though the path will be long and difficult.

From where I sat, I kept glancing over at this painting of Lee Roy every time I looked over at his casket. I didn't realize it was a painting until the funeral attendants started to move it out of the church to get it ready for transport to the chapel at the Veterans Cemetary in Marpi.

After a brief break for breakfast, we were summoned back to church for the 10 a.m. official presentations. The presentation began with our singing of the CNMI National Anthem, followed by a speech from the Governor. The Governor's speech was touching. More importantly, he INCLUDED JESSE CASTRO among the CNMI sons who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. We shall never forget Eddie Chen, Wilgene Lieto, Derence Jack, Adam Quitugua Emul, and Lee Roy Apatang Camacho. The Washington Rep, Pete A. Tenorio, also gave a brief speech, followed by the presentation of resolutions to the family by members of both the Senate and the House, 15th Commonwealth Legislature. I was sitting with the choir when the lawmakers were invited up to present the resolutions. I went over to join my colleagues after I saw the Speaker beckoning me over. The military also presented the family with several medals, including the Purple Heart. We sang "America The Beautiful" after the official presentations concluded.

Gus took these pictures and made the accompanying comments [in italics]. The first one below shows Lee Roy's children and family as they headed out of the Mount Carmel Cathedral after mass to escort Lee Roy's remains to the burial site.

Cpl. Lee Roy Apatang Camacho was buried at the CNMI Veteran's Cemetery up in Marpi. It was a long and tiring day for everyone. I would like to thank those who ... worked so hard to make [this] funeral service a memorable one for our fallen hero.

Let us continue to pray for those who are still in harm's way.