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Preliminary hearing for 2 customs officers
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Posted on Jun 08 1999
Customs officers Antonio Santos Reyes and Benjamin S. delos Reyes appeared in court yesterday for charges of bribery and misconduct in public office after they allegedly received payoffs from cigarette smugglers.
Superior Court Judge John Manglona found Reyes eligible to free counsel following his testimony that he was terminated from work effective yesterday.
Lawyer Daniel Bowen from the Public Defender’s Office, who was called in to counsel Reyes, asked the court to set another arraignment schedule.
Although he appeared in court without a counsel, De Los Reyes informed Manglona that he sought the services of lawyer Vicente Salas to represent him on this case. Both will be arraigned arraigned next week.
Raymond Borja, the third customs officer charged with bribery and misconduct in public office, was not in court yesterday. Although, his name was listed in the hearing schedule, government lawyer Barry Hirshbein said Borja was not in the calendar.
The three officers were linked to the cigarette smuggling in the CNMI by allegedly allowing the four Koreans to bring in goods without paying taxes.
Chan Ho Park, Hyun Chol Cho, Keun Ja Hwang and Moon Ho Kim were found violating customs rules after they sneaked in cartons of cigarettes without paying CNMI taxes.
According to government informants, certain customs officers allowed the entry of these goods and received money from the Koreans for the favor.
