HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Office of the Attorney General is still reviewing case referrals forwarded by the Guam Ethics Commission in late September, according to Attorney General Douglas Moylan.
The commission forwarded seven complaints to the attorney general’s office for criminal investigation. Jesse Quenga, the commission’s executive director, stated at the time that the commission believed the complaints were significant enough to warrant further investigation by the OAG.
“One of our core objectives is to maintain ethical conduct and ensure government accountability. In pursuit of these values, the commission will persist in its rigorous investigative processes and promoting ethics training,” Quenga stated previously.
In addition to asking Moylan about the cases, The Guam Daily Post asked Quenga last week if the ethics commission received any follow-up communications from the OAG or if he knew the cases were being investigated.
Quenga stated the commission has not received any subsequent communication from the OAG, nor any updates regarding the OAG’s investigation into the referred cases.
The Guam Ethics Commission began accepting complaints in March 2022.
It published its first yearly summary in July, which stated that they had received 53 cases by that time.
The majority of the cases were dismissed, largely due to lack of jurisdiction. Dismissals also happened due to determinations that questioned whether actions were authorized or corrected or because of a lack of supporting evidence for claims.
The seven cases that the commission forwarded to the OAG were part of 15 ethics complaints that the commission addressed in August. Six of those complaints were dismissed either because no violation was documented or the issue was beyond the jurisdiction of the ethics commission.
At the time, two of the 15 cases were still under investigation by the commission.
The seal of the Office of the Attorney General mounted in the office on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, in Tamuning. The office is reviewing cases sent by the Guam Ethics Commission.
