‘Standard accounting practices disregarded’
Department of Finance Secretary Tracy Norita and CNMI Treasurer Asuncion “Connie” S. Agulto appeared before the Senate special committee on the Bank of Guam investment account ($225 million) and American Rescue Plan Act spending plans for the CNMI to answer questions regarding ARPA funds and how they were handled under the previous administration.
In the spirit cooperation and partnership, Norita and Agulto appeared before the Senate special committee yesterday (without counsel) to answer questions regarding ARPA funds and how they were handled under the previous administration.
The committee had previously voted in favor issuing a subpoena against Agulto but she and Norita, as promised, appeared ready to answer questions without the need for an official subpoena.
Norita, for her part, shared that in the 10 years she’s worked with Agulto, she has known her to be hardworking, committed, and a professional finance officer.
“In her capacity as treasurer [Agulto] has served multiple administrations and secretaries of Finance. I’ve worked alongside Connie for the past 10 years and in my decade of experience working with her, I’ve known her to be a hardworking, committed, and professional finance officer—a true public servant,” she said.
Norita shared that Agulto had even warned former secretary of Finance David Atalig that improper booking of ARPA fund transactions would become an issue down the road, however, standard accounting practices were still disregarded.
“In the past administration, the former secretary of Finance did not take heed to Ms. Connie’s warnings and made decisions against our treasurer’s advisement, resulting in payments lacking documentation and proper entry into the financial system. The standard accounting practices were disregarded, and the ‘exception’ became the standard. It has taken a whole team, many months, and hard work to correct these mistakes and restore the integrity of our financial records,” she said.
Norita shared that Agulto played an instrumental role in helping put the pieces of the ARPA spending puzzle, together.
“Without her help, background knowledge, and personal tracking record of payments made with improper bookings, we will be nowhere near the level of progress you see today. She kept note and record of these transactions, believing that one day it could prove useful to an auditor or investigator but mostly because she was given assurances by former secretary David Atalig that the transactions would be fixed and ultimately booked, however that was not the case and never happened,” she said.
The Finance chief notes that ARPA reconciliation was, and still is, a daunting task but it was through Agulto’s help that they were able to make progress.
“To give you an idea of the amount of work my staff and the fiscal response team has been working tirelessly to reconcile the ARPA funds, if I were to print out the identified transactions, it would print to approximately 3,000 pages. The bulk of these transactions weren’t there last year, some didn’t exist and required proper entry into the system. Over the past 12 months, our team at DOF, alongside Office of Management & Budget, Public Assistance Office, CNMI HSEM, have been working tirelessly to identify these transactions and putting the pieces of the puzzle together, because we share the same desire, to be in compliance with the law and properly report to U.S. Treasury and have the CNMI be accountable for its expenditures,” she said.
In closing, Norita said DOF’s immediate focus and attention is directed toward the recoupment of ARPA funds and full obligation of the recouped funds before the deadline of Dec. 31, 2024. Otherwise, the CNMI will be liable for these funds and impacts to other existing federal grants could be severe.
“The clock is ticking, and time cannot be wasted. I extend a working hand to this committee to resolve any questions it may have and welcome your available resources to continue and expedite the work so the CNMI can reduce its potential liability on the funds that remain to be recouped. You are welcome to work with our assigned staff, schedule working meetings to analyze the data, create statistics and help us, refer questionable findings to the Office of the Public Auditor and the Attorney General for further investigation,” said Norita.
Asuncion S. Agulto
