Prosecution witness Bettina Guerrero Terlaje, CUC’s fiscal and budget officer, took the witness stand yesterday.
She is the sister of former CUC Executive Director Anthony Guerrero, a co-defendant in the case who has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution.
During direct examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley, Terlaje said she received a copy of a contract from Blue Pacific on Nov. 9, 2007 involving an order of 3,000 gallons of Rydlyme.
Terlaje said one of her duties involved certifying the availability of funds for purchases of any goods or services.
She said the contract indicated a 100 percent prepayment for the transaction worth $120,000, which she described as “unusual for such a large amount, considering CUC’s financial situation, and with the preparation of the payrolls on the way.”
She said the payment terms with other vendors usually cover a 25 percent payment upon placement of order, and about 30 days for complete payment after the delivery of the products.
Terlaje said she read the first page of the contract and returned it without reading through the eight pages because “there was no point of reviewing the whole contract with discrepancies right on the first page.”
She said she was given another contract on Nov. 16, 2007 with amended payment terms.
The second contract indicated a 50 percent payment upon the date of ordering the Rydlyme, 25 percent payment upon receipt of the shipping and bill of lading, and the remaining 25 percent to be paid upon delivery and acceptance of the products.
Terlaje said she did not have the opportunity to review the whole contract as she was rushed to sign it.
She added that CUC issued a check for $50,000 to Blue Pacific on Dec. 5, 2007 and another check for $10,000 on Jan. 15, 2008 as partial payments for the Rydlyme.
Blue Pacific is owned by Joaquina V. Santos, the lt. governor’s sister and the wife of James Santos.
Terlaje said the transaction got special treatment because there were 95 other vendors awaiting payments for invoices that had been due for various lengths of time.
She said she prepared a report showing CUC’s total accounts payable to vendors as of Dec. 5, 2007, which totaled $6,667,591.91.
During the cross-examination of defense lawyer Leilani Lujan, Terlaje said she only saw the first page and the signature page of the Nov. 16, 2007 contract, but she did not review the contract in its entirety.
Terlaje said although two other people signed the signature page of the contract, she was the first to do so.
Lujan presented as evidence a document stating that Blue Pacific completed the delivery of 3,000 gallons of Rydlyme on Nov. 19, 2007.
Defense lawyer Victorino Torres took over the cross-examination.
Terlaje told him that to date, only $60,000 of the transaction amount was paid to Blue Pacific.
She said CUC was behind the payments it should have completed upon delivery date, pursuant to the contract terms.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex R. Munson is presiding over the jury trial which began on March 30.
The defendants are out on a $50,000 bail each after they were arrested in August last year for charges of conspiracy to defraud the federal government, wire fraud and theft concerning federal funds.
