Former CNMI bar executive director pleads guilty to 4 counts of fraud

Former CNMI Bar Association executive director Peonie Cabrera has pleaded guilty to all four fraud charges filed against her by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Districts of Guam and the NMI

During a change of plea Tuesday in federal court, Cabrera pleaded guilty two counts of bank fraud and two counts of wire fraud before Designated Magistrate Judge Michael J. Bordallo.

The court found the defendant was fully competent to enter a knowing and voluntary plea and accepted the plea of guilty.

Bordallo set Cabrera’s sentencing for Aug. 16, 2024, before releasing the defendant on her own personal recognizance meaning she will remain released pending sentencing.

According to court information, for the first count of bank fraud, Cabrera falsely wrote and cashed checks payable to herself from the Bank of Hawaii account belonging to the Northern Marianas Bar Association.

“Beginning on or about April 4, 2019, and continuing to on or about May 4, 2023 in the U.S. District of the Northern Mariana Islands, Cabrera knowingly executed a scheme to obtain money, funds, and other property under the custody and control of a financial institution, by means of false and fraudulent pretenses and representations, to wit, by writing and cashing checks made payable to herself and drawn upon a bank account at the Bank of Hawaii belonging to the Northern Marianas Bar Association, knowing that she had no right to said money, funds, and property, in violation of title 18, United States Code, Section 1344(2),” said the information.

For the second count of bank fraud, Cabrera submitted a falsified signature card and then made cash withdrawals from a bank account at the Bank of Guam belonging to the Northern Marianas Bar Association.

“Beginning on or about Sept. 20, 2019, and continuing to on or about March 12, 2020, in the U.S. District of the Northern Mariana Islands, defendant Peonie Cabrera knowingly executed a scheme to obtain money, funds, and other property under the custody and control of a financial institution, by means of false and fraudulent pretenses and representations, to wit, by submitting a falsified signature card and then making cash withdrawals from a bank account at the Bank of Guam belonging to the Northern Marianas Bar Association, knowing that she had no right to said money, funds, and property, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344(2),” the information said.

As for the wire fraud charges, Cabrera is accused of wiring money from the Northern Marianas Bar Association accounts to a third party account which was later diverted to herself.

“Beginning on or about April 14, 2020, and continuing to on or about June 11, 2021, in the U.S. District of the Northern Mariana Islands, defendant Peonie Cabrera devised a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent representations, and caused to be transmitted a writing or signal by means of wire communication in interstate commerce for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice, to wit, by causing wire transfers of money from accounts belonging to the Northern Marianas Bar Association at the Bank of Hawaii, to a third-party payment company, which money was then diverted to her own personal use, knowing that she had no right to said money, funds, and property, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343,” the information said.

“Beginning on or about June 18, 2021, and continuing to on or about Feb. 24, 2023, in the U.S. District of the Northern Mariana Islands, defendant Peonie Cabrera devised a scheme and artifice to defraud and obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent representations, and caused to be transmitted a writing or signal by means of wire communication in interstate commerce for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice, to wit, by using false and fraudulent representations to cause members of the Northern Mariana Bar Association members to make wire transfers of money into third-party payment accounts owned and controlled by defendant, which money was for her own personal use, knowing that she had no right to said money, funds, and property, in violation of title 18, United States Code, Section 1343,” the information further states.