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195 govt checks reported stolen
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Posted on Dec 21 2005
With just a few days left before Christmas Day, still unidentified burglars broke into the CNMI Treasury’s main offices in Capitol Hill and stole nearly 200 hundred government blank checks intended for the issuance payroll and tax rebate.
Finance Secretary Fermin Atalig yesterday announced the suspected burglary, alerting the Bank of Guam and other CNMI banks to prevent the drawdown of funds from the stolen checks.
“We’ve already informed the banks to stop payments,” Atalig said. “We’re making sure that we’re not endangering the payroll for all government agencies. The [employees] working for the government can be assured of payroll.”
The Finance secretary assured that the department’s main computer system continues to function.
An accounting of the Treasury Division’s documents showed 194 checks numbered 499741 to 499934, and check no. 219047 were missing. The set of checks fall under the government’s payroll fund deposited at the Bank of Guam under account no. 0103-025700, while the other check pertains to the CNMI’s rebate trust under account no. 0103-137442.
Atalig said Treasury employees discovered the suspected burglary upon reporting for work early yesterday morning. At least three glass windows of the Treasury offices sustained damage, including two that are near the public entrance door. He said the Treasury offices’ doors were locked when the suspected burglary happened.
“I hope this is not an indication that we are not doing our job. We have put everything within what our resources can do,” he said. “We have a security alarm. This time, the alarm did not go off.”
Atalig said the Treasury Division has reported the suspected burglary to police, which have begun investigating the case.
Earlier this week, a Saipan construction firm announced that 134 pieces of checks were stolen from it. The company, which requested anonymity, said the 82 of those checks have sequence numbers 8836-8917; 52 others, 8918-8970.
The firm said it has already informed the Bank of Guam about the status of those checks. It said the bank would withhold payments involving those checks.
