Broken Trusts

Tales of Crime and Corruption in the South Pacific

Sightings from The Catbird Seat

~ o ~

June 30, 2007

Hawaii governor's chief of staff resigns

By Peter Boylan and Rick Daysog, Honolulu Advertiser

Bob Awana, Gov. Linda Lingle's chief of staff, resigned amid controversy surrounding his alleged role in a Saipan public corruption investigation and an alleged extortion attempt against him.

In a news release yesterday, Lingle said she and Awana met Thursday and "mutually concluded it was in the best interest of all that he resign his position effective immediately."

"It is with deep personal and professional regret that I make this statement," Lingle said.

As chief of staff, Awana was the most influential member of Lingle's administration, serving as the point person on major management and political issues. He did not return calls yesterday.

In the past month, two legal cases involving Awana made headlines.

In the first case, Awana was the alleged victim of an extortion attempt by an Indian national who is now in federal custody.

Rajdatta Patkar, a 44-year-old native of Mumbai, India, now living in Tokyo, attempted to extort $35,000 from Awana in 2005, according to a March 2006 federal grand jury indictment.

Patkar, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, allegedly threatened to expose an extra-marital affair Awana had with a woman in the Philippines, according to people with knowledge of the investigation who declined to be named, citing an ongoing criminal proceeding.

Patkar learned of the affair after finding e-mails Awana allegedly sent to the woman, the people said.

Awana said he immediately notified federal law enforcement officials after the alleged extortion attempt and informed Lingle.

The details of the alleged extortion attempt would be made public if Patkar's case goes to trial, but Patkar could avoid a trial with a plea agreement.

Yesterday, Patkar's attorney, Pamela Byrne of the Office of the Federal Public Defender, filed a motion to withdraw his not guilty plea and asked that Patkar be able to enter a new plea. A hearing on the motion before federal Judge Michael Seabright is scheduled for Friday.

Awana is involved in a second controversy involving a lucrative contract to operate a landfill in Saipan.

In 2002, the Republican governor of Saipan awarded a company owned in part by Awana a $9.9 million contract to operate a new landfill. After the Republican governor was replaced by a Democrat in 2005, the contract was canceled.

A member of the Democratic governor's Cabinet said the contract given by the Republican governor was too expensive, according to the Saipan Tribune newspaper.

The awarding of the contract is the subject of an ongoing federal public corruption probe. Awana was questioned by federal investigators last year in the case.

Awana, who owns a 16 percent stake in the Saipan venture, has denied wrongdoing.

Investigators with the inspector general's office of the U.S. Justice Department have asked Awana if Saipan Waste Management bribed Saipan officials to get the landfill contract.

Last year, the FBI requested records from the Commonwealth Election Commission in Saipan relating to political donations to Juan Babauta, the former Republican governor of Saipan, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Awana said Justice Department investigators confiscated and reviewed his personal financial statements as well as those of the company.

Justice Department investigators also asked about a cash account kept by the company that Awana said was used for business trips and entertainment for company executives. Investigators wanted to know how much was given to elected officials in Saipan, Awana said.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com and Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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Here is testimony from an under-age Marianas Sex Slave from 1998 before the US Senate:

Statement of Female Minor
Before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Hearing on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

March 31, 1998

When I came to Saipan in 1995, I was 14. My passport said I was 21 and I was a tourist. My boss told me in the Philippines that I would be a dancer but not naked. The first day he forced us to dance naked. He said don't tell your age or that you are a tourist. I was shocked. He said if you don't follow me, the door is open. Buy your own ticket and pay back the $1,000 promotion fee. I had no choice. I had no money. I was so scared. I'm so young, I don't know what's going on.

I thought laws in America protect workers and treat people with respect. I thought I would make good money to send home to my family. But I was treated like an animal. Life was really hell in Saipan. I couldn't believe America would let bosses take away my childhood. I should have been in school, not working there naked. I was ashamed. I still have friends there who are suffering like I suffered. I'm not the only one. Many workers are in bad condition. I don't want this to happen to anybody else like happened to me.

When I started my job, I didn't want to take my clothes off. My boss was swearing at me. I was just crying. I took my clothes off and he made me do splits. It really hurt me. He said he would teach me to dance. He wanted me to be a star because I'm younger than everybody. What could I do? I learned how to use cough medicine so I don't know what I'm doing. When I learned how to drink, I'm always drunk and they took advantage of me. They put their fingers inside me but I can't do anything about it. My boss said the customer is always right. One customer bit my nipple so hard that I just slapped him. One time a customer punched me on my bare stomach. They try to push sex on me in front of everybody on stage. The customers at the bar were everybody, like local people. Some customers are crazy. My boss told me to light a cigarette from my mouth and put it in my vagina. He was so mad at me because I would not spread my legs. So many times I burned my legs. The customers would come up and light their cigarettes between my legs. I had to put my mouth on their private parts and sometimes they came inside me. Sometimes my boss told us girls to have sex together so the customers wouldn't get bored. They took videos of me many times on the stage doing "shower shows" and "cigarette shows" for commercials and to put in magazines.

My body hurt. My heart hurt. I cried a lot and I was scared. But I had no choice. I had no money to buy a ticket to go home. What could I do? When my boss said he was sending me to Hong Kong, I was really scared. My friend went there and they made her a prostitute.

Three years later I am still trying to get justice for what happened to me and the other girls. But nothing has changed. What happened to me was against the law. New laws can help other girls. It's too late for me.

I was born in Manila on June 9, 1981. My parents were squatters and they fought a lot. I quit school and ran away when I was 12.1 looked for a job. I met Kate Zamora and she got me a job in the Pambuli Club as a G.R.O. That means a guest reception officer. When I danced in Manila I gave my mother money. She knew where I worked and sometimes visited. Then the money became less and less.

The first time I met Kate's father, Eugene Zamora, he took videos and pictures of me in the club. It was my first time to dance naked. I didn't have any hair between my legs because I was young. I was ashamed and I didn't want to take off my clothes. His daughter started swearing at me and I was afraid so I did it. The first English words I learned were swear words.

The Zamoras asked me if I wanted to work in Saipan, America. They said I would make a lot of money because I was still young. They said I wouldn't have to pay anything, even board and lodging or promotion fees. They said I wouldn't have to dance without clothes. They were all lies.

My passport had lies too. It said I was born in 1974 and that I was going to Saipan to be a tourist. I told the Zamoras but they said not to worry because they faked the passport. There were five girls who went together. We got to Saipan on Nov. 14, 1995. When we first came we lived in the Club Kalesa, where we worked. We stayed there one month or more and we slept on the stage and sometimes on the chairs. Then we moved to the barracks. We couldn't leave the barracks unless we had to buy clothes or something like that. The guards from the bar had to go with us. After the bar closed they would check our beds and make sure the rooms were locked. There were rules on the wall ~ no noise, no gossiping, no visitors. It was like a prison.

I was supposed to get $4 an hour for dancing naked and doing special shows. But I never got that much. My bosses took out $50 for promotion fees, $50 for talent manager, $50 for board and lodging and more from every pay. They never really explained how much I was really earning per hour and how many hours I was working. After a few months they always paid us late. We had to work six days a week and sometimes they made me work on my day off too. That wasn't right. They didn't pay me for that day, only tips from "ladies drinks" that customers bought us. They kept our pay two times for a deposit for emergency funds. But when I asked for the fund because my dad was sick, they only gave me $50. What can I buy with $50? Not even medicine.

On Jan. 8, 1996, the Zamoras took us to Palau for one day so we could get entry permits to Saipan. My permit was for waitress, but they pushed me to dance.

In Saipan they taught girls to be prostitutes in Hong Kong. My friend worked at Club Kalesa. They sent her to Hong Kong in 1996 when she was 18. She told me she was in Saipan about three years already. She was 15 when she got to Saipan. In March 1996 my boss told me he was getting papers for me to go to Hong Kong. He told me when my visa arrived and ticket, I would just have to go. There would be no question, I would have to fly out.

In late October I went to the Philippine Consul General and later the Saipan Labor Department to complain. I told them I was only a minor and I came on a tourist visa. I told them I had to dance naked even if my permit was for a waitress. The U.S. Department of Labor filed a civil case for me and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a criminal case. What happened to me was a crime. It is illegal. The Philippine Consul General and Filipino groups helped take me to the United States because my life was in danger. My life was threatened and my family too. People said if I didn't drop the case someone was going to set up my mom like she was a drug dealer, and my dad too.

Today I live in the United States in the foster care program and I am 16.1 have a good job and a home tutor. Many Americans have helped me and I thank them and the U.S. government for giving me a second chance in my life. But the other workers in Saipan won't get this chance. That is why it is important for me to speak for them.

Please change the laws to help the other girls and workers. Please change the laws to make bad bosses go to jail and have a lesson. That is the only way to change the CNMI. Otherwise human beings will still be treated like animals. Young girls like me will still dance naked in bars instead of go to school. They will still learn to be prostitutes. They will have no childhood.

Please give me and the others justice. Everybody is expecting justice from you because we have been waiting too long.

Thank you.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/20/92442/9536

June 27, 2007

Out of the Shadows,
Into the Spotlight

Gov. Lingle’s Chief of Staff Bob Awana Is the Victim of a Blackmail Scheme and Under Investigation for Alleged Bribery in Saipan,
But So Far He's Kept His Job

By Malia Zimmerman, Hawaii Reporter

Gov. Linda Lingle’s chief of staff Robert “Bob” Awana has come under fire in recent weeks for his connection to two so far unrelated federal crimes – one allegedly involving blackmail, and the other, bribery. In one he is the victim; and the other, a person of interest. Combined, both crimes, which are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, involve people in Hawaii as well as other Pacific Rim countries: Japan, the Philippines, India and Saipan.

Despite concerns by many Republicans about Awana’s intentions and propensity to put politics over principal, the former Democratic political strategist and waste management consultant is considered Lingle’s closest confidant. He managed her failed 1998 gubernatorial campaign, but ran her successful 2002 gubernatorial effort, securing in a state dominated by Democrats, the election of Hawaii’s first woman governor and first Republican governor in 4 decades.

Since then, Lingle has afforded Awana tremendous power. He has the most influence over the hiring and firing of the governor’s appointees and has been accused of micromanagement; and reportedly keeps a color-coded enemies list with names of those perceived disloyal to the governor.

Most alarming to Republicans, in a 2006 backroom multi-billion deal with Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Awana brokered the passage of a controversial bill that allowed Hannemann and the Honolulu City Council to hike the state General Excise Tax by 12.5 percent – a record tax increase for the state – even though Lingle pledged 72 hours earlier to veto the measure.

Though he’s usually by the governor’s side, on Monday, June 25, 2007, in a press conference at the governor’s office, Awana was uncharacteristically absent. Lingle refused to comment on either investigation. She told inquiring reporters that Awana’s employment status with her office had not changed – he is still her chief of staff. But she would not answer questions posed by KITV’s Darryl Huff as to whether she still had “faith and confidence’ in Awana. The governor tried to put off the question by claiming she’d just returned from an extended trip to Asia, and had not spoken to Awana. But Huff pointed out that just days earlier, Awana spoke to KITV and admitted that in 2005, he met with the governor about the bribery attempt.

In an interview with Hawaii Reporter on Monday, Awana refused to comment further about either case, except to reiterate what he told other reporters: He is a “victim” of a crime, and because both investigations are ongoing, he won’t speak about them.

"Threat to Injure the Property and Reputation of R.A."

Rajdatta Patkar, an Indian national, was indicted by a federal grand jury more than a year ago on April 27, 2006, on 5 counts for “threatening to injure the property and reputation” of “R.A.” (Robert Awana). Court records say the “five communications sent by the defendant (on September 5, 11, 15, 18, and 26, 2005) formed the basis of the 5-count extortion.” Since the matter involved an extradition proceeding, the indictment was sealed until the defendant was located in Japan where he lives. There, Patkar was arrested in March 2007, and despite his opposition, he was extradited to Hawaii.

Indian newspapers first reported that Patkar’s family petitioned the Indian High Court and Indian Supreme Court through their attorney in hopes of bringing Patkar back to India, but those attempts failed. Stuck in Hawaii, he pled “not guilty” to the charges, but the judge ordered him detained in federal prison until his trial. While the trial is scheduled to start August 21, 2007, it won’t. Public defender Pamela Byrne has asked for more time to review the materials and mount her client’s defense.

In Hawaii, the bribery case received no media coverage until this month, in part because of the sealed records. In addition, Awana was not named – in all court records he is only referred to as “R.A.” Federal prosecutors say keeping Awana’s name a secret is standard procedure: “All cases involving victims, irrespective of whether they are high profile members of the community, the United States is obligated under the Crime Victim Rights Act to treat victims with fairness and respect for the victims’ privacy. Accordingly, it is generally incumbent upon the prosecution to abbreviate or eliminate the names of victims in all documents that may become public …,” writes U.S. Deputy Attorney Clare Connors.

Despite the federal government’s discretion, Awana’s name became public after Indian newspapers reported Patkar’s arrest, indictment, extradition to the United States and incarceration in Hawaii.

So What’s Behind the Alleged Bribery Scheme?

According to court documents, Patkar attempted to extort $35,000 from Awana on threat of exposing Awana’s purported “unseemly emails” that if published would “subject the victim’s reputation to unfavorable scrutiny.”

Sources close to the case say that Patkar threatened to expose the married Awana for his relationship with Jullie Mae – a student Awana allegedly met in 2005 while in the Philippines. Awana purportedly saw Mae when he represented the governor in a large delegation that went to the Philippines in 2005; Awana went again to the Philippines in 2006 with the governor’s more than 200-member delegation.

Mae, who became acquainted with Patkar through the Internet, reportedly has a web profile posted on the Chinese Kisses international dating service – http://www.chinesekisses.com/view.php?id=69357&l=en

Here Mae is listed as an 18-year-old unemployed student living in Davao, Philippines. If her age is accurately posted, she was a minor when Awana allegedly met her more than two years ago, a fact some law enforcement looking into the matter say could be problematic for Awana in the future.

Complicating the alleged blackmail attempt is reported correspondence between Awana and Mae that asks Mae to arrange escorts for two prominent married men from Hawaii.

Maui Time Weekly’s Greg Mebele interviewed Charudatta Patkar, the brother of Patkar. In a June 14 interview, he writes when “Awana and other state officials visited the Philippines, Charudatta said Mae was expected to ‘entertain his delegates.’ When I asked if this included sexual entertainment, Charudatta said, ‘Yes.’ “

Details on the case are sketchy because portions of the court records containing the emails that Patkar sent to Awana and Awana sent to Mae are sealed. Patkar, who is still incarcerated, has not been allowed to speak to the media. His federal public defender, Pamela Byrne, filed a petition on June 12, 2007, asking the federal court to “clarify whether the defendant and undersigned counsel are restricted from disseminating and/or discussing information concerning this case with anyone else.”

Byrne says the grounds for her motion are that “the government has requested that the counsel and defendant sign a proposed order in which the name of the alleged victim and certain details of the instant offense are not revealed unless and until there is a trial on the merits.”

Her motion will be heard this Friday, June 29, at 10 a.m. before Federal Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi. Byrne has not returned calls to Hawaii Reporter about this case, or, according to her own sworn statement, any media. Federal officials also are not commenting.

Awana told reporters that he went to U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo after being blackmailed by Patkar, and Kubo referred the case to the FBI. Awana said that he worked with the FBI to catch Patkar in the act by telling Patkar to charge $4,000 to his credit card as a first payment of the $35,000 that Patkar demanded. But the credit card wasn’t Awana’s – it belonged to the FBI. The whole transaction was a sting, and Patkar, according to court records, took the money.

Awana Investigated in Alleged Bribery Incident in Saipan

In addition to being the subject of a blackmail attempt, Awana is being questioned by FBI officials about an alleged bribery attempt of the former Republican governor of Saipan.

Law enforcement sources confirm Awana has been under investigation – and was interviewed by FBI agents in 2006 – over a $1 million Saipan government contract awarded four years earlier to a Saipan waste management company, which Awana owns a large percentage of.

Awana told The Honolulu Advertiser last week that he did not bribe government officials in Saipan.

When asked by Hawaii Reporter about the investigation, Awana maintained his innocence.

He says he had not hired a criminal attorney to represent him and says that he is cooperating with federal authorities in both cases.

Political Pundits Speculate on Impact on 2010 Gubernatorial Election

In light of Awana’s close political ties to both Lingle and Lt. Governor James “Duke” Aiona, political pundits are already debating how these federal investigations, possible subsequent trials, and the information revealed through them, might impact Hawaii’s 2010 elections.

They note the Lingle/Aiona administration promised to end corruption in government – and these investigations only hurt that pledge.

Aiona has already announced his plans to run for governor on the Republican ticket, but both investigations are placing the Lingle/Aiona administration under tremendous local, national and international scrutiny. And that won’t likely end soon.

The Friday hearing before Judge Leslie Kobayashi determining if there is a gag order on Patkar and his attorney, is sure to gain additional media attention on this case - attention that will only drag on with the delay in the August trial.

Attorneys tell Hawaii Reporter that if there is a trial in the blackmail case, several of the governor’s prominent Philippine trip sponsors and donors could be called as witnesses. That could have a chilling effect on recruiting private sponsorships for future foreign "good will" trips and on relations with donors for Aiona’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

Also depending on what is discovered in the blackmail trial, sources say Awana could become the target of a separate but related federal investigation – and in that case, these sponsors and donors may once again be called as witnesses.

One source close to the investigation told Hawaii Reporter: “It will only get worse for Awana from here. There is no upside for him.”

Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii Reporter, via email at mailto:Malia@hawaiireporter.com

Hawaii Reporter

March 17, 2007

OUR OPINION

Renew inquiry into removal of
U.S. attorney in Guam

THE ISSUE

Two congressmen are calling for a new inquiry into the demotion in 2002 of an interim U.S. attorney in Guam.

COMPLAINTS by the former interim U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Marianas that he was removed because of his investigation of yet-to-be-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff were determined by the Department of Justice inspector general last year to have been unfounded. The controversy over the purge of other U.S. attorneys should prompt a new inquiry into the Guam controversy, as called for by two House committee chairmen.

Frederick A. Black had been acting U.S. attorney in Guam since his appointment to the post by the first President Bush in 1991. He was demoted Nov. 18, 2002, a day after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena seeking records involving lobbying fees paid to Abramoff by the Superior Court of Guam.

Abramoff, now serving six years in prison for public corruption, had unsuccessfully lobbied Congress against giving the Guam Supreme Court authority over the Superior Court. Abramoff received a series of $9,000 checks through a California attorney to disguise his role, according to the Los Angeles Times. Abramoff was known in the Pacific for his work for garment manufacturers accused of employing people in sweatshops.

In a report last June, the Justice Department's inspector general concluded that Black's investigation of Abramoff could not have played a role in his demotion because Black's successor, Leonardo Rapadas, already had been chosen for the post without Abramoff's knowledge. The White House had approved Rapadas for the job in March 2002, pending background checks, according to the report.

The Rapadas nomination was presented to President Bush by D. Kyle Sampson, then associate director for presidential personnel, after he had gained the approval of then-White Counsel Alberto Gonzales, according to the report. After Gonzales became attorney general, Sampson served as his chief of staff until resigning this week amid the current controversy.

Abramoff had been involved in a plan to oust Black as early as February 2002, e-mailing members of his lobbying team that Black was "a total commie" who should be "sniped out of there." Learning in early March that the White House had decided to nominate Rapadas, Abramoff told a member of his team by e-mail that they should "play it" as though their lobbying team was responsible.

In a letter to four committees planning hearings on the U.S. attorney purge, House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., include Black's demotion in their investigation of the more recent U.S. attorney firings.

The Abramoff case in Guam, Miller and Rahall asserted, "may represent the beginning of a pattern of behavior by some members of Congress and officials in the Bush administration to politicize the work of U.S. attorneys to quash their independence."

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February 11, 2007

Rights advocates speak up versus immigration woes, CNMI abuses

By Liberty Dones, Saipan Tribune

Unknown to many, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources had invited not only CNMI government and business leaders but also members from local non-government social service and human rights advocacy groups, who spilled the beans on human and sex trafficking cases in the Commonwealth during a hearing Thursday, boosting the argument of a serious lack of an effective immigration system in the CNMI.

Narrating a number of documented cases of human trafficking and labor and immigration abuses in the CNMI before the senate panel were Saipan residents Lauri Ogumoro, social worker at Karidat and manager of Guma Esperanza-House of Hope shelter of battered women, and human rights advocate Sister Stella Mangona of Good Shepherd.

Sitting along with them on the senate panel was a 23-year-old sex trafficking victim in the CNMI, identified as Kayleen Entena from the Philippines.

“There's something wrong with the system. We can't continue the way we are. I do know that people's lives are destroyed,” Ogumoro told the U.S. Senate committee during the hearing.

Human trafficking

Ogumoro, who is originally from Oregon and has lived on Saipan for 25 years, cited that just very recently, as she was leaving for D.C., a Chinese woman who is allegedly a victim of human trafficking, was referred to the House of Hope. Asked by Sen. Daniel Akaka on its prevalence, Ogumoro said Guma Esperance has been serving victims of human trafficking since 2005.

In 2006, it received 30 victims of the alleged crime.

Compared with other U.S. territories, this figure is far way up, with American Samoa recording three last year, Hawaii, two; and Guam, zero, she said.

She cited that the U.S. Department of Justice itself considers the CNMI a hot spot for human trafficking due to its close proximity to many Asian countries and its lax immigration system.

“It's so easy to bring in tourists [in the CNMI]. The system has to be fixed,” said Ogumoro.

In her 11-page position paper submitted to the panel, Ogumoro said that the 30 victims last year included only four cases identified by local enforcements.

He said those numbers handled by federal law enforcement were referred to Guam for safe shelter.

She cited the following cases:

- First case was a 43-year-old Chinese woman who ran away from her employers after having been assaulted. She arrived on Saipan in late 2004 to work as a babysitter but her contract said she was a waitress on Tinian. She worked on Saipan for 20-21 hours a day, cooking, cleaning, and babysitting, not only for her employer but also for other people who lived in an apartment. She had no day-off. She was promised a $250 salary a month. She was paid twice but deductions were taken from her salary, giving her a total net pay for four months of $255. She ended up paying her boss for her plane ticket from China and CNMI labor processing fee. She had begged to be sent home but was told that if she ran away, she would be found, her body “dumped” in the ocean, and her family would be informed that she was smuggled to Guam.

- In September 2005, two women from the Philippines were accommodated at the center. Both were promised $400 a month salary. They came on tourist permits, informing Immigration that they were niece and the girlfriend of their male employer/trafficker. They came in early morning and were escorted to their rooms in a massage/karaoke parlor. In the afternoon, they were given a box of condoms and a box of yellow pills. Later that afternoon, a Korean male customer knocked on the door of one of the two women, who eventually raped her. The victim said she was terrified and shocked at what was happening. She said that four male customers came that day and raped her. Her companion suffered a similar experience. They escaped the forced prostitution after 10 days with the help of their Filipino customers.

Other cases involved seven women, including two minors, from the Philippines, who who were allegedly asked to perform lewd acts while working as dancers at two nightclubs on Saipan.

The case also involved a number of labor abuses relating to salary and living condition.

Ogumoro also cited the recent arrival of seven Chinese women, who expected to work as commercial cleaners, restaurant workers, and garment worker but were allegedly offered instead by their recruiter to work as prostitutes on Tinian.

“Is this the tip of the iceberg? Are these isolated cases? There is some belief on island that the women who report such schemes .[want] to get benefits and go to United States. Not all victims of human trafficking, contrary to popular belief, want to go to the United States. They are not looking for T-visas, most have never heard of such a thing,” said Ogumoro.

She said there is a seeming complacency in the community over this issue.

“When I talk with community members and tell them about human trafficking and what is happening to these young women., the response is much the same, 'of he's been doing that for years, and that's just the way it is.' This complacency among community members would no doubt be different if these young women were women from the Commonwealth being trafficked into China or the Philippines.,” she said.

Sponsorship

In her testimony, Ogumoro said that many referred nonresident clients were engaged in an illegal scheme of “sponsorship,” which she said ranges from 500 to 5,000 “depending on who you talk to.”

“Some in the Commonwealth will make the charge that the United States has a lot of undocumented workers, too. While this is true, the situations are not really similar. Unfortunately, the islands of the Commonwealth do not allow an undocumented workers to move freely from island to island to find work. The undocumented worker cannot make it back across the border to his or her homeland. Unfortunately, he or she remains on island, most living in plain sight of Commonwealth authorities,” she said.

She said that in the last two years, 54 percent of women served though Guma Esperanza are immigrant women, most of whom met their husbands on Saipan.

“Sometimes, the battered woman tells us she is illegal and therefore usually chooses to only stay briefly in the shelter. Some battered immigrant women report that they do not have a job but are 'sponsored' by friends or relatives. Sponsorship arrangements are strictly prohibited by CNMI regulations, but they are not uncommon nonetheless,” she said.

Under this scheme, the 'sponsor' signs documents indicating that he or she will be the employer, even though there is no genuine job or wages.

This gives these women a legal status to remain in the CNMI.

“One woman reported paying $2,000 to a sponsor only to have the sponsor ran away with her money,” she said, noting that there is no provision in the current CNMI immigration law to protect battered non-resident women married to U.S. citizens.

“Therefore, the threats by a U.S. citizen spouse to send an immigrant [nonresident] woman back home is more than just words. These are the kinds of threats that force women to stay in abusive relationships. The threat of taking their U.S. citizen children to Guam or the U.S. mainland so she will not be able to see them is very real,” she said.

She cited that in November 2006, a 39-year old Chinese woman was brought to the shelter as a victim of domestic violence. She came to Saipan as tourist with the purpose of marrying a U.S. citizen so she would become IR or immediate relative and be able to find work.

This woman left the shelter before she could be helped but returned to the shelter two days later, saying her husband continued to hurt her.

“She again left the shelter before we could help her. Is this story indicative of more out there? I do not know. What I do know is that these women are vulnerable and afraid to utilize the system that is designed to protect them,” said Ogumoro.

In her remarks, Oguromo said that her testimony aims “to offer a glimpse of the conditions of many living in the Commonwealth.”

“I will not offer my personal opinions as to the issue of federal takeover of CNMI immigration. I offer this testimony as a social worker and an advocate for women,” she said.

She said her testimony has the support of Catholic Bishop Thomas A. Camacho “in order to share with you some of the stories of the women served by Karidat.”

Karidat operates under the auspices of the Catholic Church Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.

'Let go of status quo'

During the committee hearing, Ogumoro said that while she understands the CNMI's hold on the current system, it has to let go of the status quo if it wants a better society.

She likened the situation to a battered woman who finds it hard to leave her husband.

“We often say to women we counsel: I know you love your husband but you can't continue to stay with him if he is hurting you. The CNMI society is hurting. Change in the system is needed,” said Ogumoro.

In her closing remarks, she said, “Many in the Commonwealth are afraid to speak out, for fear of reprisals to themselves or family members. I believe it is a matter of conscience. The abuses described.are not representatives of indigenous values nor of Catholic social justice. If we do not speak out to correct the wrongs in our islands, we will lose who we are as Chamorros, Carolinians, and Americans.”

Third class citizens

Sister Stella Mangona, fondly called Sister Stella in the community, said in her six-page testimony that the temporary nonresident workers program in the CNMI has “effectively created a permanent underclass of disenfranchised persons.”

“If you have lived somewhere for 20 years, it really is your home, but these workers have no official status of belonging. They are valued employees with stable employment histories, U.S. citizen children going to public schools, deep roots in the community, but no possibility of adjusting their year-to-year vulnerable, temporary status except by marrying a local person,” she said.

Sister Stella, who moved to Saipan from Guam in 1999 as counselor over reports of abuses against immigrant women on Saipan, said that in her counseling, she would encounter five cases of “contract marriages” a year where nonresident workers marry a U.S. citizen after the payment of a fee.

“I believe that the ones I actually see are only the tip of the iceberg,” she said.

'Please revise requirements'

Entena, who confessed being a victim of sex trafficking on Saipan, asked the Senate panel “to please help change the way the government functions in the CNMI.”

Entena is one of the two women who arrived as tourists on Saipan in 2005 and was forced into prostitution by her employer.

“Four men raped me on my first day in Saipan. This kind of thing went on for almost 10 days to me and the other girl from the Philippines. We tried to run away twice but they were always at the front.” she said.

“I wanted to kill myself, but the girl with me told me, 'don't do that, we came here together, God is with us and He will help us. She told me we have to be strong. She said, 'I have a son and I need to be strong because of my son. You, you are the eldest in your family so you need to be strong, too. When we have the opportunity, we will run away,” she said.

In her two-page testimony, Entena said she hopes that the CNMI Immigration would “revise or make their requirements stricter especially for entering Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.”

“I am hoping that this kind of illegal system will stop, the way it happened to me, the way I was treated. I do not want this to happen to anyone. I know there are women out in the community like me. They are just afraid to speak because they don't know where to go or just afraid because they have to support their family back home. Please help change the way the government functions in the CNMI. If there is change or people are not held responsible for their actions then it will continue to happen to innocent victims. I hope you will hear my wish. I am forever grateful,” said Entena, who at one point during her testimony appeared teary-eyed and her voice was cracking.

The Senate hearing was led by committee chair Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Sen. Daniel Akaka.

A live telecast of the hearing was seen online on Friday, 1230am to about 3am Saipan time.

www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=65614&cat=1

September 29, 2006

Abramoff's ties to Mehlman extensive

Report shows close ties between lobbyist
and White House official

By Joel Seidman, NBC News

WASHINGTON - A report released in June by the Department of Justice's Inspector General, Glenn Fine, contained what may have been be the first references of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's strong ties to White House Political Director Ken Mehlman, but it was only today that the extent of that relationship was revealed.

Melhman is now the Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

The June report said that Abramoff was receiving information about the U.S. territories in the Pacific -- Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas -- directly from White House information "recommended" to be given to Abramoff by Mehlman. Both territories were clients of Abramoff lobbying firm.

The IG report says White House political official Leonard Rodriguez told investigators he had "kept Abramoff aware of information relevant to Guam ... at the behest of Ken Mehlman,” the White House Political Director, who “recommended or suggested that I reach out to make Jack aware of issues related to Guam."

But the House Government Reform Committee report released today says Abramoff and his team reached out themselves to the White House Office of Political Affairs some 17 times. Six times, Abramoff’s team had direct contact with Mehlman.

The report says, on Oct. 9, 2002, Abramoff e-mailed Mehlman to seek an endorsement from President Bush for Republican candidates running in Guam.

Within two weeks, Susan Ralston, an aide to Karl Rove, e-mailed Abramoff: "Ken asked me to let you know that he has the quote to be approved for your Guam candidates."

Abramoff also vigorously lobbied the White House to back Benigne Fitial, a garment plant operator and newspaper publisher who was running for governor in the Northern Marianas under the banner of a third party known as the "Covenant Party."

The Marianas, famous for their low-paying garment factories, hired Abramoff to keep the islands' workers exempt from U.S. laws like the minimum wage. In the e-mail in May, Abramoff writes: "I met with Rove tonight. They are not going to allow (Juan) Babauta to have his way and they are looking forward to your arrival."

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15066329/

April 26, 2006

Destroying Paradise for Profit

By Rebecca Clarren, Ms. Magazine

www.alternet.org/story/35458/

(Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from the spring 2006 issue of Ms. Magazine,...)

Were abusive garment sweatshops, forced abortions and sex trafficking in Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands, protected by Tom DeLay? How did congressional leaders and the Bush administration succeed in blocking labor and immigration reforms there? And how did Jack Abramoff figure into all of this?

Those are some of the questions we answered after sending an investigative team to Saipan, the main island in the Northern Marianas chain. There, 30,000 "guest workers" -- predominately women -- from