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Malite estate lawyer ‘depletes’ bank account of another estate
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Posted on Jan 03 2005
Antonio Atalig, one of the lawyers of the Malite estate, has substantially depleted the trust account of another estate that is in the process of being partitioned to its heirs through a probate court.
Ignacia Rogopes and Marcella Rabauliman, heirs of the late Ramona Satur Taisacan, told the court that the trust account that used to have deposits amounting to over $85,000 now only has some $6,000—a substantial depletion by more than 70 percent.
In the probate of Taisacan’s estate, Atalig is lawyer for the estate’s administrator, Leon Taisacan.
Rogopes and Rabauliman’s lawyer, Jane Mack, recently reported this discovery to the court. Mack said the trust account contains proceeds from the lease of a Garapan land belonging to the estate. The proceeds initially reached about $300,000, Mack said, but part of it was already distributed to the heirs.
“[I’m] just informing the court of what I found out,” Mack said in a telephone interview. Mack said that the court would address the matter in a scheduled proceeding on Jan. 20.
A document submitted by Mack to the court shows that the trust account’s balance remains at only $6,085.76.
“On June 30, 1997 (the last date in which administrator’s counsel provided heirs with a copy of the account ledger), the account balance was $85,345.08,” Mack stated.
After making verifications with the Bank of Guam, Mack reported that 16 withdrawals were made on the account from July 7, 1998, to July 28, 1999. At least two of these withdrawals in the amounts of $4,000 and $2,000 were redeposited, based on Mack’s document.
The first withdrawal made on the account took place on Jan. 7, 1998, where some $10,000 was drawn from the account. Sixteen days later, another withdrawal in the amount of $30,000 happened. Subsequent withdrawals of varying amounts resulted in the trust account’s depletion.
The Saipan Tribune contacted the law office of Atalig yesterday afternoon to obtain his comment on the matter, but his staff said that the lawyer was unavailable for interview at that time. The phone call was not returned as of press time.
