Closed garment firms’ execs detained

At least three officers of defunct garment factories Sako Corp. and Mariana Fashions were taken into custody last week, as the government investigates an alleged attempt to transfer company funds and equipment out of the CNMI and evade the payment of taxes.

Two other officers have already fled the Commonwealth, CNMI chief prosecutor David Hutton said yesterday. He said the flight of the two officers earlier this month “was to hinder or thwart the criminal investigation and/or to avoid possible criminal prosecution.”

Hutton said three of the companies’ officers were detained last Wednesday after the Superior Court granted separate petitions for their detention. Hutton said the officers are “material witnesses” to investigations being conducted by the Attorney General’s Office.

Jun Young Ham, Ha Myung Sam and Karmina Okamura are now out on bail, court records showed.

Associate judge Kenneth Govendo ordered the three to surrender their travel documents and not leave the island of Saipan. The judge also directed the three not to transfer funds out of the CNMI.

Govendo initially issued a $100,000-bail on each of the three detainees, but Hutton said the judge later modified the bail to a lower amount, allowing their temporary release.

Hutton, together with assistant attorney general Ian Catlett, asked the court for orders to arrest the company officers, whom they consider material witnesses to investigations that are criminal and civil in nature.

“The conduct under investigation involves allegations of financial malfeasance, which, if substantiated, will result in serious criminal charges,” Hutton and Catlett said in the petitions. “In addition, as a result of this conduct, the Commonwealth stands at risk of losing valuable revenue in the form of taxes owed.”

Hutton said in a separate interview that the garment factories still owe the CNMI government huge amounts of taxes.

The prosecutors believe that the officers might leave the CNMI, citing the serious nature of the probe. Two other officers—Hee Kun Kyun and Kwon Myung Hee—have fled the CNMI, the prosecutors said. They said the former left the CNMI on Monday last week using another passport other than the one with which he gained entry, while the latter fled the island two days earlier.

“According to Labor and Immigration records, Kyun has seven different passports,” the prosecutors said.

The AGO wants to prevent the management of Sako, Mariana Fashions and their affiliate companies such as Dong Dang Fashion Corp. from transferring funds out of the CNMI pending the outcome of investigations, following their decision to shut down business operations on Saipan.

Last Friday, a news report quoted an unnamed Sako employee as saying that the company’s cargo containers containing machines and equipment have already been shipped to Cambodia.

More than 570 employees of Sako and Mariana Fashions trooped to the Sako factory in San Antonio last Thursday to claim their last paychecks. Mariana Fashions has shut down operations since Feb. 21, about a week ahead of Sako.

The companies’ management had scheduled the transfer of some 70 employees from Mariana Fashions to Sako, but the latter’s decision to shut down operations spoiled the planned transfer.