The restitution amount ordered by the court as a result of the task force cases amounted to over $185,000.
Most of the 2009 cases involved corruption by government employees in the performance of their official duties, according to an e-mailed statement by OPA.
But the task force has been dormant following the “reallocation” of its former members last month to focus on OPA investigations, the statement said.
OPA said members of the public can report instances of fraud waste and abuse through its anonymous hotline at 235-3937 or the Web site portal http://www.opacnmi.com/content/hotline-report-form.
According OPA, “Upon dissolution of the task force, all pending cases under prosecution were distributed back to the attorneys of the [Office of the Attorney General’s] criminal division.”
The AG’s Office and the governor’s office have yet to respond to inquiries by this reporter.
Among the pending task force cases are a theft and misconduct in public office case against former Commonwealth Ports Authority Chairman Rex Palacios.
The task force was first formed in early 2008.
Historically, OPA said, the AGO has lacked the resources to have a team of designated attorneys and investigators to combat the rising instances of white collar and public corruption crimes.
Also, with the AGO’s criminal division prosecutors focused on violent crimes, drug crimes, juvenile justice and domestic violence, “the public corruption and white collar crime cases have historically received less than full focus.”
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