Werner on Friday was appointed by President Johnson Toribiong as Independent Counsel at his current salary until the expiration of his current contract of employment with the government.
In his appointment letter, Toribiong said that among Werner’s duties is to retain a forensic accountant “for the express purpose of reviewing and analyzing the records of Pacific Savings Bank and determining the full extent of the civil and/or criminal liability of the individuals involved with the failed institution.”Werner said his office is moving forward with the case. He said that as early as 2007 a legal mentor from the Pacific Anti-Money Laundering Program recommended that the government hire a forensic accountant.He added that former Independent Counsel Lewis Harley on his way out recommended that the government retain a forensic accountant. Harley however did not hire a forensic accountant. Forensic accountants may be involved in recovering proceeds of crime and in relation to confiscation proceedings concerning actual or assumed proceeds of crime or money laundering.The forensic accountant can re-create or digest financial transactions to get a complete picture of what led to the bank’s failure.Toribiong said that there has been a clamor in the Palauan community that action be taken on the matter.In January of this year, Emory Mesubed, former VP and Operations manager of the bank was found not guilty of money laundering and cheating. Special Prosecutor Michael Copeland then Assistant Attorney General was the prosecuting attorney at that time.The case was dismissed due to lack of evidence. The prosecutor failed to prove that Mesubed intended to permanently defraud the Civil Service Pension Plan of $1,000,000.The government own expert witness testified that these questionable transactions including the $1 million time deposit were desperate attempts for the bank to financially stay afloat, the ruling stated. Mesubed was the first of the sixteen defendants to face trial involving the failure of the bank.Previous criminal cases filed in connection with the bank’s collapse have been dismissed. Harley voluntary dismissed the other criminal cases. The most recent is an order dismissing the case against another defendant Mario Gulibert.
