Pawnshops have no safety net against accepting stolen items because they cannot ask customers outright if the items they brought for sale or pawn are stolen.
Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council chairman Ramon B. Camacho stirred the pot when he raised concerns that 24-hour pawnshops may only be “encouraging criminal activities” last month.
A week after, Saipan Independent Rep. Stanley T. Torres “encouraged” the Department of Commerce, the Department of Public Safety and the Attorney General’s Office to monitor the pawnshops and revoke their licenses if they are found breaking the law on buying and selling stolen items.
The issue placed pawnshops on the line to defend their operations.
“We were appalled by Rep. Torres’ comments in the May 27, 2010 issue of the Marianas Variety. We ask government officials not to draw their conclusions right away and not to generalize all pawnshops,” Salmino Ada Santos, C.G.D. Pawnshop representative told the Variety.
“Our company for one, understood that the penalties for violating the Pawnbrokers Act meant the revocation of our license and for the business to close down,” Santos said.
He said they don’t invite anyone, even unfortunate poker losers to pawn their family belongings with them.
“Our doors are open during business hours to customers in dire need of financial help, not thieves. We serve the community regardless of their race, credit score, people in need of short term cash for tuition, medical emergencies, groceries, funerals, and the biggest complaint utility payments, Santos said.
Bargain hunters also have a chance to stretch their budget buying from their stores.
“Second, we always ask customers to provide us a positive identification and file every single copy in our office. We even use expensive software to keep tract of each of our customer’s transactions,” Santos said.
He stressed that the report, which now contains the date of pawn, identification of the pawn customer, description of item pawned, and invoice number of the pawned item, is filed with the Department of Commerce, Banking Section every first week of the month as stated by the law.
“Third, we even assist all CNMI enforcement agencies when there is a look-out for a particular criminal who tries to fund their criminal activities or demeaning habits. If we have accidentally accepted a stolen property, we transfer the item to public safety officers in accordance with the pawnbrokers act law,” Santos said.
Even after the criminal has been caught and has been brought to court and is adjudicated and found guilty, they don’t receive any form of restitution even though the law says they are entitled to one.
“Like being thrust with a double edged sword, we lose money both ways. At least we look at the bright side that we tried to be a Good Samaritan. Think about it, we make money by selling and displaying back the item to the public so why are we going to accept stolen items?” Santos said.
“We invite Rep. Torres or any official to visit our pawnshop and witness how we professionally conduct our business because we abide by the law and we have nothing to hide,” he added.
Ben Martin of 24hrs Pawnshop said they require identification cards from anybody who sells, buys, or pawns any items to them.
“It is a requirement by the Department of Commerce that we have to comply with,” Martin said.
He said it would be unethical to ask anybody if the item he or she is pawning is stolen.
“We have to trust our instincts most of the times,” he said. They also monitor the latest news so they will be updated if there are recent break-ins in houses or establishment.
“When we hear somebody’s house or office was robbed, we take note of the items that were stolen and we put that in our watch list,” Martin said.
“When police reclaim items that we have bought or pawned as a stolen item, we cooperate. It’s our loss but it’s a risk we have to deal with,” he said.
Martin also clarified that they do not operate 24 hours.
“I understand that this pawnshop used to operate 24 hours a long time ago, but with the economic crisis, we reduced our operation hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily,” Martin said. But the pawnshop did not change its name registered with the Department of Commerce and they continue to use it.
Janice Suguitan, appraiser and in-charge of Fastcash Pawnshop, said they are careful when accepting pawned items.
“Like all other pawnshops in the island, we require identification cards and other personal details. We also monitor our clients through surveillance cameras, which I believe almost all, if not all pawnshops, have,” Suguitan said.
Calls made by victims of theft and robbery help them a lot in looking out for stolen items.
“We get a lot of calls from victims and sometimes, they stop at our pawnshop to give us drawings and descriptions of items they lost. This helps us stay alert for anybody who might come in to pawn stolen items,” Suguitan said.
They also monitor the news and keep a list of blacklisted individuals who have had previous records of selling or pawning stolen items.
Fastcash Pawnshop limits the kinds of items they accept, such as jewelry.
“Most of the items stolen are laptops and electronics. We accept mainly jewelry, and we always coordinate with DPS and the Commerce Department,” she said.
Medy Gora, jewelry appraiser of the Villaroyal chain of pawnshops, said customers must present ID’s.
Whenever police officers come in to investigate and look for stolen items, they always cooperate.
“Sometimes police would come in and reclaim laptops, PSP, cameras, and bush cutters. We are helpless when these items are reclaimed and we consider this as risks of losses,” Gora said.
“We have no idea if the items brought to us are stolen, and of course we cannot ask each individual if he or she owns an item of if it was stolen but we trust our better judgment in these instances,” she said.
They are now very strict, she added.
Camacho said pawnshops that operate 24 hours a day “raise a lot of questions,” especially during a time of economic hardship.
Camacho urged law enforcers to ensure if pawnshops are complying with the law on buying and selling pawned items, and for the pawnshops to insist on asking for the proper identification of their customers.
But pawnshop owners said they never accept pawned items without identification cards from the Pawnees.
A week after, Rep. Torres in his letter to Camacho called on DPS to step-up efforts to monitor pawnshops and revoke their licenses revoked if they are found to be breaking the law on buying or selling stolen items.
Torres said 24-hour pawnshops also make it “inviting for unfortunate poker losers to pawn their family belongings in the middle of the night.”
Torres said no pawnshop should conduct business between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
None of the pawnshops Variety contacted said that they operate on a 24-hour basis. The latest time that some remain open is until 10 p.m. only.
“It would be too risky and dangerous to remain open the whole night,” an appraiser at one of the pawnshops said.
Pawnshops are looking forward to the time when they can hook up with DPS to have a direct access as their safety net to monitor stolen items.
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