Cabrera claims he did not violate fed regs

Former Finance Secretary Antonio R. Cabrera, who was convicted on corruption charges in the U.S. District Court, has averred he did nothing improper or illegal while in office that violated federal regulations.

In a legal brief his lawyer Joseph A. Arriola filed ahead of a hearing on his petition to reverse the jury’s verdict, he claimed he did not commit fraud nor forgery to collect $5,840.73 in typhoon differential pay from the CNMI government.

The payment was reviewed and approved by the director of the Emergency Management Office in 1996 based on the proper procedures set by the local government, Mr. Cabrera said in the brief.

It was also established at the trial last October that the defendant was “in fact providing valuable and necessary services” to the Commonwealth, it stated.

He was not accused of taking bribe or getting paid for time he did not work, it added, even though federal prosecutors argued he was ineligible for typhoon differential pay.

“This does not rise to the level of fraud. Rather it is an internal matter which the [CNMI] government could pursue in a civil case, if it so chooses,” Mr. Cabrera said.

But evidence presented at the week-long trial showed he was not even in the CNMI in two occasions when the typhoon hit the islands for which he got paid.

In response to the prosecutors’ claim that he improperly signed accounts payable vouchers that led to the issuance of the check for the differential pay, the defense maintained this accusation was not brought up in the trial because there was nothing illegal in his action.

This is a function of the secretary of the Department of Finance, the brief argued, and thus Mr. Cabrera was “simply performing his ministerial duty.”

Regarding eligibility requirement for differential pay, the defense claimed there is no prohibition in the CNMI laws on him being paid for such services.

Mr. Cabrera is pressing for a judgment of acquittal on two charges for which he was convicted, one involving the typhoon differential pay and the other the $20,000 advance he got for a Manila trip in 1996, which prosecutors said he pocketed while he was the DOF chief.

District Judge Alex R. Munson has set the hearing on Thursday. Mr. Cabrera, 40, is scheduled to be sentenced on February 6 next year where he could face up to 30 years in jail.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin A. Seely has opposed the motion on grounds that it was not timely filed and that the arguments by the defense claiming the charges were not within the scope of the federal jurisdiction were erroneous.

Mr. Cabrera, however, argued the advance he made prior to the Manila trip was approved by the CNMI, although what he failed to provide was sufficient justification for the expenditures — a local matter not within the purview of federal judgment.

“The defendant is making a concerted effort to obtain the appropriate receipts to justify the reimbursements and believes that he will be able to show that what he sought is reimbursement representing expenses above and beyond what he was originally advanced,” the brief said.

The prosecutors, however, contended he was paid $20, 884.35 by the CNMI after he sought reimbursement after the trip, and never deducted the travel advance from the payment.