THE Department of Finance has recovered over $1 million in Building Optimism, Opportunity and Stability Together or BOOST monies that the administration of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres distributed last year, Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita told the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee on Friday.
Joining Norita in the budget hearing conducted by the committee was Jasmine Camacho who represented the Office of Management and Budget.
Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, BOOST funds were awarded to small businesses and non-profit organizations beginning in October 2022 as financial assistance in the form of grants.
The House Judiciary and Governmental Operations and the Ways and Means committees in the 22nd Legislature conducted a joint investigation and stated that they had discovered “unprecedented levels of corruption and fiscal mismanagement” relating to the BOOST funds.
In June, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs awarded $1,608,516 in Technical Assistance Program grant funding to help the CNMI government address financial management concerns.
But Norita said the OIA grant was not only for auditing ARPA funds but for the completion of the CNMI single audit as well.
Norita said she was happy to report that Finance recovered over $1 million in BOOST monies from Bank of Saipan, which administered the funds, and some of the BOOST awardees.
She said they have reviewed some of the BOOST files and these will be forwarded to the Office of the Public Auditor for further investigation while other files were referred to the Office of the Attorney General.
Norita said as of May 31, 2023, the CNMI government had $24,462,550 in ARPA funds.
She said these had been allotted for utilities, communications, fuel and food for the Department of Corrections, the Marianas Visitors Authority, the Legislature, the judiciary and the Group Health and Life Insurance for government employees.
Norita said Finance is still in the process of reconciling all the accounts under ARPA, some of which are “commingled” with the general fund.
“We are cleaning up that mess,” she said referring to the ARPA funds that have been “scattered everywhere in different accounts.”
