Nancy C. Garcia and Family Alliance Corp. filed the complaint against Jemco Inc. and its president and director Ojiro Ishihara, wife Motoko Ishihara, Kazumi Fushimi, Chong Nam Lee, CN Lee International, Inc., Moon Ki Yoo, Ok Ja Wang and Abana Co., Ltd.
Garcia, through her counsel William M. Fitzgerald has asked the court to render her judgment against the defendants for compensatory damages to be proven at trial, for payment of all amounts by which they were unjustly enriched, for $1 million in punitive damages for intentional and malicious nature of the defendant’s actions, and for other relief the court deems proper.
In her complaint, Garcia said she is a long-time resident of the CNMI who provides bookkeeping service and other business consultation and services to Japanese individuals and businesses since 1988.
She first met Ishirara in 1988 when she, through her Saipan employer provided accounting and bookkeeping services to Ishihara and his company, Japan Enterprises Marianas Corp.
Garcia said she established the Family Alliance Corp. or FAMACOR in 1993.
In that year, Garcia said Ishirara and Japan Enterprises Marianas Corp. sold all of its assets and Ishihara incorporated JEMCO to purchase a hotel on Saipan known as the Blueberry Hotel. Shortly after the purchase of the hotel, Ishihara changed the name to Holiday in Saipan Resort Club, or Holiday Inn.
Garcia said that because Ishihara resided in Japan, she and FAMACOR was requested to manage the operations of Holiday Inn until the hotel property could be sold to a third party.
The plaintiff’s management of the Holiday Inn included acquiring for and supplying manpower to the hotel operations, providing transportation of guests from the airport to the Holiday Inn, providing all accounting and bookkeeping services, payment of bills and all other activities related to the operations of a hotel. Garcia said she was also made vice president of Jemco.
Garcia said that in exchange for her services and her efforts to find a buyer for the hotel, Ishihara agreed to pay her a commission of no less than $250,000 upon the sale of the Holiday Inn.
But the hotel was not sold quickly. Garcia said she continued to operate Holiday Inn from 1993 to 2007.
She said during the whole time they received limited financial assistance from Ishihara and Jemco to pay for their operations, maintenance and upkeep while Ishihara and Jemco were receiving the bulk of the revenues from the hotel.
Garcia said she and FAMACOR were compelled to finance the hotel operations from their own businesses.
She learned that Ishihara had found a potential buyer for the hotel in Dec. 2006.
She said the defendants owned her and FAMACOR reasonable management fees for over 13 years, excluding the promised commission to her.
Holiday Inn was sold to ABANA and the new owners Moon Ki Yoo and wife Ok Ja Wang took over the management of the hotel in March 2007.
Garcia said the defendants failed to reimburse her for their operating expenses, management fees and the commission from the sale of the hotel.
Garcia has filed five causes of action against the defendants —breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, assisting a breach of fiduciary duty, interference with contractual relationship, and unjust enrichment.
