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‘CNMI can return coin money’
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Posted on Dec 10 2004
The CNMI government indicated that it is willing to give back any money that may have come from the alleged fraudulent sale of “Freedom Tower” commemorative coins.
“As for the money, we’ll return it if necessary,” Gov. Juan N. Babauta told reporters yesterday.
The Governor’s Office has received some $160,000 in royalty fee from the coin maker, Softsky, following its manufacture and sale of commemorative coins bearing the emblem of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
Softsky was dragged into a legal tussle after a judge in New York City reportedly found that National Collector’s Mint Inc., which markets Softsky’s coins, engaged in civil fraud, false advertising and deceptive business practices when it marketed its “2004 Freedom Tower Silver Dollar” for $19.95 in television and print ads.
The seller reportedly claimed that the coins were made of nearly pure silver recovered from the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
The judge had stopped National Collector’s Mint Inc. from selling the coin while the charges it faces, filed by the New York attorney general, are now being deliberated in court.
Attorney general Pamela Brown earlier said that the CNMI was in the process of terminating the contract with Softsky. “It’s the way to go,” she had said.
She said that money collected from such sale may likely be donated to WTC victims’ funds, noting that it is unacceptable to profit from the tragedy.
Babauta said that Softsky recently wrote him wondering about the CNMI’s contract suspension. He said Softky maintains that there is no reason why the CNMI should seek to terminate the agreement at all.
Babauta, in a Nov. 12 letter to Softsky president Joseph Hartman, said that the company is “not authorized to develop, mint, or market any coins utilizing the authorization of the CNMI.”
“We are not happy taking these actions but the events surrounding this agreement warrants this suspension.”
SoftSky had issued two $25,000 worth of checks to the CNMI from the proceeds of the sale of minted CNMI coins last summer. Last October, the company sent in additional $110,000 to the CNMI as royalty fee.
