By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

A former controller for Information & Data Services, the payroll company that cheated the Bank of Guam and the Bank of Hawaii out of more than $2 million, admitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that the unlawful check-kiting scheme had been ongoing for more than 10 years.
In a declaration, Bank of Hawaii vice president and director of security Brian S. Ishikawa stated that Teofista F. Dulay voluntarily stated under oath that IDS had been submitting bank transactions on uncollected funds or negative balances between Bank of Guam and Bank of Hawaii accounts.
Dulay, who worked with IDS from June 1, 1999 until her resignation on Oct. 9, 2006, told FBI investigators that this practice had been occurring prior to her employment with IDS in 1999.
She said IDS president Romy Miclat was the mastermind and his brother, Gil Miclat, also an employee of IDS, was an active participant in the scheme.
According to Dulay, the majority of the kited funds went to Romy Miclat and to IDS-related businesses, including ACIP, Compubiz, Juco Holdings Inc., and Famcor.
Ishikawa further stated that in August 2006, a Bank of Guam representative, Josephine Mariano, called IDS stating that Bank of Guam was concerned with IDS’s banking activity and requested a meeting with Miclat to discuss the matter. The meeting, however, did not materialize because of Miclat’s unavailability.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Bank of Guam and Bank of Hawaii agreed to meet for oral arguments in the District Court of Guam on Aug. 10 relative to the motion filed by the Bank of Hawaii.
The Bank of Hawaii filed a motion to dismiss the complaint filed by the Guam of Guam saying it was a duplicate lawsuit. Alternatively, Bank of Hawaii asked through their motion to transfer the venue of litigation because it would save the resources of the court and both parties if the lawsuit would be heard in Hawaii.
The Bank of Hawaii explained that the evidence relating to the Automated Clearing House transactions, including most records and evidence pertinent to the questionable transactions, were electronically stored at Bank of Hawaii’s headquarters in Honolulu.
The Bank of Hawaii also stated that most of their witnesses resided in Hawaii and other non-party witnesses residing on the mainland would have an easier time travelling to Hawaii as opposed to Guam.
The Bank of Hawaii further argued that expert testimony regarding the Automated Clearing House system would likely be provided by one or both parties and that qualified witnesses would likely be traveling from the U.S. mainland.
It added that to save time and expense for both parties and witnesses and to avoid inconsistent results, the Bank of Hawaii told the District Court of Guam to dismiss the Bank of Guam lawsuit or transfer the case to Hawaii and resolve the matter based on the first action filed.
The banks’ court battle started after an alleged check-kiting scheme of Jale Management’s Information and Data Services, or IDS, was discovered.
IDS provided payroll services to employers like the Hilton Guam Resort and Spa, and Dewitt Transactions. It also forwarded taxes withheld from employees to the appropriate taxing authorities on behalf of its employer-clients.
IDS reportedly debited more than $2 million from its Bank of Guam account.
The Bank of Guam wants Bank of Hawaii to pay damages, and asked the District Court of Guam for a jury trial alleging that Bank of Hawaii intentionally defrauded the local bank, causing it to suffer a substantial loss.