Emerita Camacho
Carlene Faisao
Emerita Camacho, 48, and Carlene Faisao, 44, appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan on Dec. 31, 2019 for a bail hearing.
Camacho was charged with 20 counts of misuse of financial instruments and one count of conspiracy. Faisao was charged with 15 counts of misuse of financial instruments and one count of conspiracy.
Police said Camacho posed as the governor’s secretary in one of the transactions to facilitate the processing of payment with a restaurant using bad checks. Camacho also posed as a Federal Emergency Management Agency employee and as a Saipan mayor’s office staff member in other transactions using the same bad checks, police added.
They said Camacho and Faisao planned the whole thing. Camacho would place a call for a food order in a restaurant and tell the establishment that she worked for the governor, mayor, or FEMA, police said.
She would then write a check from her Bank of Hawaii account, which was already closed, and use it to “pay” for the food order, police said.
Faisao, for her part, would tell the restaurant that she was Camacho’s secretary as she picked up the food order, police added.
Camacho also used bad checks at a gas station, police said.
DPS obtained surveillance footage from some of the business establishments that showed Camacho or Faisao paying bad checks and picking up their food orders.
Moreover, bank records revealed that Camacho issued 34 additional checks from the same account from Sept. 30 to Dec. 5, 2019, totaling $12,395.
Police are currently trying to identify the recipients of these bad checks.
Judge Bogdan imposed a $20,000 cash bail on each defendant who were both remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections.
They were ordered to return to court on Jan. 9 at 1:30 p.m. for a preliminary hearing, and on Feb. 10 at 9 a.m. for arraignment.
In a statement, DPS said on Dec. 30, 2019, at about 12:06 p.m., police executed the arrest warrants for the two defendants in Susupe. During the search of the residence, evidence including relevant checks used to commit forgery and theft were recovered, DPS said.
DPS spokesman, Dre Pangelinan, said between Oct. 23, 2019 and Dec. 11, 2019, DPS received several 911 calls from business establishments on Saipan reporting forged checks.
DPS reminds business owners to be diligent when accepting checks or other forms of payment from unknown/unfamiliar individuals.
