Theft charges filed vs. RISCA president

The Office of the Attorney General, through assistant attorney general James Kingman, has filed theft and forgery charges against Ivan Mereb Jr., who is president of the non-profit group Rota Island Specialty Crop Association, or RISCA.

Kingman filed one count of theft and 15 counts of forgery charges against Mereb in Superior Court last week.

According to the information filed against Mereb, Kingman accuses him of taking over $20,000 through his position at RISCA and authorizing checks dating back from May 2021 up to April 2022.

“On or about May 25, 2021, to April 27, 2022, on Rota, CNMI, Mereb, took, used, or consumed the property of another, to wit: U.S. currency from the Rota Island Specialty Crop Association, in a continuing course of conduct, of an amount of $20,000 or more, without the authority of the Rota Island Specialty Crop Association, by signing and issuing checks for which he was not authorized,” states the information.

The offense is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Kingman cited numerous instances relating to the forgery charges filed against Mereb. In one case, Mereb allegedly issued a check to himself on Aug. 20, 2021, worth $8,900 in RISCA funds. This alleged offense alone is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.

Kingman noted 10 other similar instances where Mereb allegedly issued RISCA checks with different amounts to himself from August 2021 to December 2021. All these instances are punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment each.

Kingman also filed four forgery charges against Mereb for issuing multiple checks totaling over $1,500 to Bepari Enterprises starting around September 2021 to December 2021. This is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment, said Kingman.