Rota landowners sue Singapore investors

Another Rota couple have filed a lawsuit against some Singapore-based investors and the Commonwealth Ports Authority over the alleged abuse or destruction of their land in connection with the $8.6 million Rota Airport Runway Improvement Project.

Richard S. Manglona and his wife Zena C. Manglona sued OKP (NMI) Corp., OKP Holdings Limited, Kim Peow Or, Toh Wat Or, Enc Nam Oh, He Kheng Soh, Brian M. Chen, Yee Chee Keong, CPA, and 20 unnamed co-defendants.

The couple sued the defendants for conversion of soil and other minerals, conversion of permanent trees and plants, negligence, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress, unjust enrichment, and fraudulent misrepresentation.

The Manglonas, through counsel Ramon K. Quichocho, asked the Superior Court to order the defendants pay damages, restitution, attorney’s fees, and court costs. They asked for a jury trial on Rota.

OKP Holdings, formed under Singapore laws, owns 96,000 shares of OKP Corp’s stocks. OKP Corp. is the alter ego of OKP Holdings in Singapore. Or, Toh and Oh are citizens of Singapore who each own 1 share of OKP Corp. stocks, while Soh, also a citizen of Singapore, owns 2,000 shares of OKP Corp. stocks. Chen, a U.S. citizen, owns 2,000 shares of OKP Corp. stocks and is also the resident manager for OKP Corp. Keong, a Singapore citizen, is project manager of OKP Corp.

OKP Corp. was awarded an $8.6 million contract by CPA to improve the Rota Airport runway. Quichocho stated that OKP Corp. is grossly undercapitalized for the runway project.

On May 4, 2005, CPA submitted to the Department of Transportation-Federal Aviation Administration an application for a grant of federal funds for a project associated with the Rota project.

CPA selected OKP Corp. over other bidders. But since OKP Corp. was newly incorporated and undercapitalized, CPA was concerned over its financial capabilities. Despite this, on Oct. 28, 2005, CPA and OKP Corp. entered into a construction contract for the runway extension project.

In preparation for the project, defendants negotiated with the Manglona couple to excavate backfill materials from their land in Chenchon, Rota.

The defendants, however, ignored the rights of Mr. Manglona, Quichocho said.

Quichocho stated that on Nov. 8, 2005, Mr. Manglona and OKP, through Chen, executed a letter of intent to excavate backfill materials from the plaintiffs’ land for a $.40 per cubic yard.

Quichocho said that, to the surprise of Mr. Manglona, OKP and others, without any authorization to modify the final grading plan, excavated, dug, moved the soil and minerals of the embankment for CPA’s project.

He said OKP advised Mr. Manglona that 35,000 cubic yards of backfill materials were extracted from their land.

“As a result of defendants’ abuse, the plaintiffs were given notice of violation of the government permits and face potential fines for something that they did not do,” he said.

Two other landowners on Rota also recently filed a similar lawsuit against the same defendants over the alleged excavation of backfill materials from their lands.