‘40 percent of officials fail to submit financial statements’

About half of the government officials and employees required to submit financial disclosure statements missed this year’s filing deadline.

Public auditor Michael Sablan reported yesterday that his office had received only 289 financial disclosure statements as of the May 2 deadline. This represents only 60 percent of the 478 individuals required to file the document pursuant to the CNMI Code of Ethics.

According to Sablan, the Office of the Public Auditor has done all it could to assist individuals covered by the yearly requirement.

“Our staff has been making telephone reminders. We’ve put out press releases and made the financial disclosure form downloadable from website. We also designated staff to serve as notary public who could certify forms at no charge to government filers,” Sablan said.

He encouraged those who had not yet filed their financial disclosure statements to take advantage of the grace period, which expires at the end of this month.

“Beyond May 31st, it will be difficult to grant exemptions from the penalties that would apply,” Sablan said.

According to OPA, certain government officials and employees are required to file verified financial disclosure statements in order to disclose any possible conflict of interest in performance of their official duties.

Individuals covered by the requirement are all appointed and elected officials and judicial officers, including members of boards and task forces, and all government employees who receive additional compensation for services rendered to, or as an independent contractor, for the Commonwealth.

Among the information required to be filed by May 1 of every year are land records and business licenses.

Under the Ethics Code, anyone who fails to file the statement on time is subject to a civil penalty of $10 a day for each day the delinquency continues. OPA also refers the names of all persons not paying fines to the Attorney General’s Office, which may file suit to collect the fines.

Further, a person who refuses or knowingly fails to file a statement or who provides false or misleading information may be punished by a fine of between $500 and $1,000, imprisonment, or both. For a public official, this could also result in removal from office.

According to Sablan, the rate of compliance this year showed a slight improvement compared to 2004, when only 220, or 40 percent, of the 517 concerned government officials and employees met the deadline.