MPLT halts suit vs Rota group for 60 days

The Marianas Public Land Trust has agreed to grant a local non-profit organization on Rota a 60-day reprieve to settle its delinquent loan accounts.

During this period, the MPLT shall not pursue its lawsuit against the group, APLE 501.

“We stopped the legal action for now until they catch up with the loan obligations that they agreed to pay, based on documents. We agreed to a 60-day duration during which they need to be current,” said acting MPLT chair Herman R. Guerrero.

MPLT recently sued APLE 501 and its four founding officers—initial president Loreto B. Hocog, vice president Edward Maratita Sr., secretary Severina Atalig Ogo, and treasurer Henry Atalig—for alleged fraud.

The Trust accused the group of inducing MPLT to enter into a $1 million loan agreement “for educational purposes.”

According to MPLT, the defendants claimed that the proceeds from the loan were to be used to provide low interest loans to local students on Rota.

The MPLT said it made an initial disbursement of $154,924 to the group.

MPLT alleged that over 50 percent of the initial amount was distributed to Hocog, Maratita, Ogo and Atalig or members of their immediate families without proper loan documentation.

MPLT asked the Superior Court to issue a judgment declaring APLE 501 liable to pay the remaining principal sum of $143,155.69 plus accrued interest in the amount of $5,642.52.

MPLT, through counsel Victorino DLG. Torres, asked the court to order that Ogo’s mortgaged interests in the real property (25,000 square meters) be sold.

MPLT also sought damages.

Based on court documents, MPLT entered into a loan agreement with APLE on Aug. 23, 2002 for $1 million to be given on an installment basis and an annual interest rate of 5 percent.

The note was secured by a guaranty mortgage executed by Ogo for her property.

Of the agreed $1 million loan, MPLT had released $154,924.

MPLT said APLE has failed to make promised monthly payments and has failed to abide by the terms of the note, loan, and mortgage documents.

Guerrero said yesterday that the 60-day reprieve is a way to settle the matter out of court.

“We’re trying to solve it out of court because it is my feeling and the feeling of the trustees that if we proceed with the lawsuit, it would be long and it would cost a lot of money. So we thought that for the last time, we will give them an opportunity to catch up and be current with their obligations,” he said.

He said the board discussion on the issue, which was attended by the defendants on Rota last week, was “lengthy and exhausting.”

The board held the meeting at Northern Marianas College Rota campus for two nights on Dec. 28 and 29.

“We were requested to hold it in the evening because that’s the best time for them. That’s the reason why we had to stay there for two nights,” said Guerrero.

He said the MPLT team returned to Saipan on Dec. 30.