CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI on Monday dismissed with prejudice the indictment against Hiron Mollah charging him with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.
She granted the motion of Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe who said that the federal government, “after a thorough review of its evidence, does not believe that it can presently prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
Mollah was represented by court-appointed attorney Mark Hanson.
Barrie James Ladd, a co-defendant, was also charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.
Ladd is the owner of Misamis Construction Saipan Ltd. and is represented by attorney Colin Thompson.
The indictment stated that Misamis Construction Saipan Ltd. “would submit a petition for a CW-1 visa that would falsely and fraudulently represent that a full-time employer-employee relationship would exist between Misamis and Hiron Mollah when in fact, no such relationship was intended and the primary purpose of the application was to obtain legal status for Mollah.”
Thompson previously requested the court to continue the jury trial for Ladd because of voluminous discovery materials.
Following the request, Judge Manglona scheduled the jury trial for April 6 at 10 a.m.
No other information about the case was available as of press time Wednesday.
