Lawyer: Bloomberg article left out key facts
An attorney with the Torres Brothers law firm pointed out that a magazine’s story suggesting corruption in Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ administration related to the CNMI’s emerging casino industry left out several key facts.
According to Matt Holley, an attorney at the Torres Brother law firm, the article, “A Chinese Casino Has Conquered a Piece of America,” published by Bloomberg Businessweek last week, left out several key points about their client, Changwei Xu, who had a $7-million Nevada arrest warrant for an outstanding debt at a Nevada casino.
The Bloomberg piece stated that a man named Changwei Xu was detained at the Saipan airport in October “because of a Nevada arrest warrant, with bail there set at $7 million. But Imperial Pacific didn’t want him locked up. The Torres Brothers law firm quickly informed the CNMI Department of Corrections that Xu was its client and, remarkably, requested that he be released on medical grounds to house arrest, under Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC’s supervision. The government agreed.”
Holley, who was a prosecutor in New York City, said that Attorney General Edward Manibusan made the decision last October 2017 to have Xu released and placed under house arrest.
“As a former prosecutor myself from New York City, I know that the [attorney general] should be concerned about having someone in jail that shouldn’t be, especially one with a heart condition,” he said.
Holley added that the basis for the detention was extinguished when the debt was satisfied that same day.
According to Saipan Tribune archives, Xu’s debt was settled by an unnamed agent from Best Sunshine, the company that ran Imperial Pacific’s temporary live casino inside the T Galleria.
Holley also noted that the Bloomberg story failed to recognize that the Nevada casino from whom Xu owed money had verified that the matter had been resolved. He added that the Clark County District Attorney declined to extradite Xu.
Holley represented Xu under the Torres Brothers law firm. He questioned why the article’s author failed to seek comments from him, since he represented Xu, and from Manibusan since he is the AG.
“None was provided in the article,” Holley said.
Holley further questioned whether the author verified with the Clark Country District Attorney or with the Nevada casino on the resolved debt prior to his client’s release.
In a statement by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres in response to the Bloomberg reporter’s inquiries, Torres noted that it was Manibusan who opted to release Xu.
“Mr. Xu was detained at the CNMI Department of Corrections. The law firm, through Matt Holley, represented Mr. Xu. Because of a medical condition (diabetes and high blood pressure), Holley and our elected Attorney General Edward Manibusan agreed to have DOC release Mr. Xu and to allow IPI to provide him accommodations until Holley could work out why he was arrested.
“To be clear, the governor was not involved in this decision and he happened to be off-island at that time,” the statement adds, adding that it was later found out that Xu had a debt in Las Vegas and that throughout the process, there was full coordination among U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the CNMI Department of Public Safety, and CNMI DOC.
I wish I had an unnamed agent to settle my multi-million dollar casino bills I conveniently forgot about…..
TImeline:
Xu detained at airport
Xu calls IPI
IPI calls Torres (both law firm and Gov)
Holley, et al contact Manibusan to release client because he has a health problem
(was Xu a client before the airport detention occurred?)
(is this sort of release for a person with $7mil warrant typical?)
Manibusan allows supervised release
IPI pays $7million to cover the Nevada fine
Xu leaves CNMI with no more warrant
Bloomberg does story
Holley asks why parts of story are missing?
Gives convoluted account of events that attempt to distance Gov from story.
How does NYC experience give credence to this explanation?
Xu had a $7 mill ARREST warrant against him. Isn’t it protocol to hold a person with an outstanding warrant for arrest? If I had a $7 mil arrest warrant out for me, I doubt Mr. Mainibusan would let me walk out of detention even if I had a headache, too.
I’d say Mr Holley’s explanation did not make the situation look better for Gov Torres or the Torres law firm.
This is Trump-speak. All that’s missing is a TWEET and a stripper!
Wait, now I understand the NYC reference.
Nice spin counselor. It is a fact that your client Xui had an outstanding debt, quite a large one in fact. A person with high blood pressure and a heart condition shouldn’t gamble so big.
So as soon as he was released by the IPI puppets on Saipan (er… the legal system on Saipan) someone on Saipan paid his mammoth gambling debt in Vegas. Hmmmmm. Thanks for that illuminating piece of information, counsellor!
Also missing was the shady junket to Macao and Hong Kong, the fast shuffle with two different casino bills, Glen Hunter’s lawsuit (Jennifer Docktor as counsel, the $10,000 fine) and Gov. Inos’s sneaky after-hours signing of the casino bill.
All Mr. Holley did was to try to put palatable icing on a rotten cupcake.
Torres stop the continued lies to the CNMI people. Torres why don’t you during the unpaid worker protests disclose who called you and then you Torres told Chief of Staff Matt Guerrero to call me and these were Matt’s words ” The Governor is instructing you to put the workers on the 130 am flight to China..” Who Torres? You pleading the 5th started your lies to the CNMI people.
Torres you can use someone else whether from New York or Galapagos Islands to try and defend you about the Bloomberg Article….your sheepskin has fallen off and finally revealed to the people (both living and our ancestors in boxes that you continue to ignore) and our Motherland CNMI the real YOU…WOLF in SHEEPSKIN!