Alonso Joseph appeared on August 13 for arraignment and bail hearing with counsel Oldiais Ngirkelau and entered a not guilty plea to all his charges.
Assistant Attorney General Ron Ledgerwood appeared on behalf of the government.Joseph tendered his resignation last month.Joseph was charged with false statement as to value of goods, misconduct in public office, unlawful fishing, possession of steel leaders, entry of unlicensed vessel, employing nonresident workers in violation of the preference to resident workers, employing nonresident workers without application to the Division of Labor and employing nonresident workers without presenting copies of their contracts for employment to the Division of Labor prior to nonresident workers entry.Joseph posted $1,000 surety bond and was released from custody.His status conference is set for September 11 at 9:45 am at the Melekeok courtroom.Joseph is also the president of a company engaged in fishing called Palau International United Development Corp.He was charged along with PIUDC’s secretary and Treasurer Mathias Erbai.Erbai appeared for arraignment on August 7 and entered a not guilty plea.He also posted $1,000 surety bond.The two defendants were prosecuted for the unlawful entry of six fishing vessels from Philippines on June 2.The vessels arrived on June 2 and were seized and put under investigation after authorities found steel leaders at the boat.The vessels were claimed to be property of PIUDC.Court document stated that Customs officer received a call regarding the arrival of the six vessels from General Santos, Philippines at around 1 pm.The arrival was delayed until 8:30 pm. The vessels were anchored near Dolphin Pacific and had been visited by two local boats.The document stated that the vessels were inspected on June 3 and one K-9 dog reacted briefly during the inspection and Immigration officer observed a very large fishing net with mesh holes and about 5,000 feet in length.The vessels were inspected by a local authority on June 5 and a report to the Palau Division of Transportation stated that one of the vessels “lacked sufficient inner strength and support to withstand continuous stress of the high seas over an extended period of time and is not fit to be considered for registry.”The report indicated that the other five vessels are” not properly equipped in accordance with Palau’s regulations to undertake voyages. The report concluded that none of the six vessels is acceptable for registry in Palau.”The document stated that there were six vessel captains on board and none of them are aware of the Labor Application for work permit and they did not possess provisional visa.The document stated that the captains and the crewmembers movements and everything relating to the task all depend on instructions from Joseph to their main office in Philippines.The defendant failed to secure labor announcement for 44 Filipino fishermen. The defendants did not make a prior application to the Division of Labor for foreign workers and did not attempt to give resident workers preference for the fishermen jobs and did not present copies of any employment contracts prior to entry of the 44 fishermen from the Philippines.The vessels are owned by San Lorenzo Ruiz Fishing Industry Inc. of Calumpang, General Santos City, Philippines.The crewmembers claimed that PIUDC is San Lorenzo Ruiz Fishing Industry Inc.’s partner in Palau.
