By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

THE hearing of a former University of Guam official in a theft case will continue after both defense and government lawyers agreed to proceed with the criminal trial setting next Monday.
Beatrice M.C. Taitano-Cruz, 52, the former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance officer for UOG, was in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Steven Unpingco with her lawyer, Howard Trapp.
Taitano-Cruz resigned from UOG after she was indicted for theft, forgery, tampering with public records and official misconduct last year.
She was scheduled to attend the National Collegiate Athletic Association Gender Equality and Issues Forum in Cleveland, Ohio in the first week of May 2006.
She allegedly received per diem allowance and payments for the conference but instead, she returned to Guam where she submitted a false hotel receipt in an attempt to obtain more money from UOG.
The former compliance officer allegedly submitted a trip report to the university containing fraudulent expenses and submitted hotel receipts for the conference in Ohio.
Between April 15 and June 15, Taitano-Cruz reportedly forged a receipt from the Wyndham Hotel in Ohio but it was later discovered that it was not authorized by the establishment.
She is facing theft charges as a second-degree felony, tampering with public records as a third-degree felony, forgery as a third-degree felony, tampering with records to deceive or conceal as a misdemeanor, and two counts of official misconduct as a misdemeanor.