THE federal court on Wednesday found the complaint of Nicanor F. Norita against the former attorneys of the Mangabao Estate deficient.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction, but allowed Norita to file an amended complaint due on June 8.
Failure to file an amended complaint by the deadline will result in the closure of the civil action, the judge added.
Norita, the administrator of the Estate of Visitacion Rangamar Flores, has accused the different attorneys involved in the Mangabao Estate of “stealing” its money.
Representing himself, Norita named as defendants the former attorneys of the three heirs of the Mangabao Estate, including the attorney who represented the Estate of Visitacion Rangamar Flores.
Norita sued attorneys Michael Dotts, Ben Petersburg, Rosemond Santos, Timothy Bellas, and Brien Sers Nicolas.
Norita accused them of “bribery and grand larceny,” but provided no other information about his allegations. The plaintiff also asked the federal court to waive the payment of fees for filing the complaint.
Noting that Norita, 76, is retired and unemployed, Judge Manglona granted his request.
But as for Norita’s complaint, the judge said it is deficient because he fails to factually show how the court has jurisdiction to hear his case based on identified legal and factual claims.
Among other things, Norita claims that he did not receive a share of his father’s estate.
But none of this information is helpful in establishing this court’s jurisdiction either as a federal question or based on diversity of citizens, the judge said.
“Neither Norita’s bribery nor grand larceny claim establishes federal jurisdiction,” she added.
“First, Norita does not detail the federal statutory violations or any facts that might suggest this court’s jurisdiction. Furthermore, a federal bribery charge requires that the individual bribe a public official or witness. That does not appear to be the case here,” the judge said.
She added that a federal grand larceny is generally a criminal charge that would be brought by the United States government.
As to the various documents Norita submitted to the court, Judge Manglona said: “None of these documents, without an explanation of their relevance to a legal claim are helpful either.”
On Dec. 22, 2017, after more than 10 years of litigation, the Superior Court issued a decree of final distribution for the $19.3 million paid by the CNMI government to the heirs of the Estate of Maria Mangabao.
Maria Mangabao died intestate or without a will on Saipan in the early 1990s leaving three heirs who are all deceased: Ramona Rangamar, Visitacion Rangamar Flores, and Vicente Rangamar.
The court divided the land compensation funds into three equal shares for the three identified heirs who each received $5,335,216.
In November 2020, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho issued a $100,000 bench warrant for the arrest of Norita for refusing to give the $1.3 million share to another heir of the Estate of Visitacion Flores.
Judge Camacho issued the bench warrant after Norita failed to appear for a status conference hearing even though a subpoena was issued for him to appear.
The judge noted that he was very familiar with Norita’s continued efforts to frustrate the court’s efforts in ensuring the distribution of the share of the Estate of Antonio R. Flores to its sole heir, Jacinto Taman Flores.
Judge Camacho ordered CNMI Marshals to go to Norita’s residence and retrieve from him the estate’s bank book. Should Norita refuse, the Marshals were instructed to take him into custody and to bring him to court.
The Marshals picked up Norita from his Chalan Kanoa residence and brought him before Judge Camacho. Norita told the judge that there was a burglary at his home and among those stolen was a bag with the bank book.
Norita said he then went to the bank for a new passbook.
Judge Camacho told Norita that was no longer a signatory in the disbursements of the fund.
