Ralph N. Yumul
THE House Special Committee on Federal Assistance & Disaster-Related Funding on Friday voted to issue subpoenas to the owners of Naked Fish Bar & Grill and Hafa Adai Roasting Company.
The two companies hosted events organized by former officials of the $17 million, federally funded Building Optimism, Opportunities and Stability Together or BOOST program in 2022.
Rep. Marissa Flores made a motion to authorize the committee chair, Rep. Ralph N. Yumul, to issue subpoena duces tecum and subpoena duces testificandum to the owners of Transcends LLC dba Naked Fish Bar & Grill, and Hafa Adai Roasting Company.
Flores and the rest of the committee members present voted yes, including Yumul, House Floor Leader Edwin Propst, and Reps. Diego Vincent F. Camacho, Vince S. “Kobre” Aldan and John Paul Sablan.
Yumul said the subpoenas duces tecum to Naked Fish owner Joseph C. Guerrero and Hafa Adai Roasting Company owner John Lee will give them 10 days to submit documents and records pertaining to the hosting of BOOST events two years ago.
A list provided to the special committee indicates that Naked Fish was awarded $20,000 in BOOST funds. Hafa Adai Roasting Company was not on the list.
Yumul said the House legal counsel is now communicating with the two companies, whose owners have asked about the documents they have to submit.
The special committee had also issued a subpoena testificandum to former BOOST contractors Shane Villanueva, Rob Travilla and Salina Sapp.
Villanueva is scheduled to appear before the panel on March 5-6 while Travilla and Sapp are scheduled for March 7, 8 or 11.
