CUC has been referring possible cases for the AGO’s review on a weekly basis, the source said.
Assistant Attorney General Shelli Neal signed the penal summons against Joanna C. Pai who was charged with the theft of over $51,000 in utility services.
Neal had yet to respond to the inquiries of this reporter.
Mrs. Pai has been summoned to appear in court on Nov. 14, 2011 regarding the complaint filed by the AGO.
If she does not appear in court, an application may be made for the issuance of a warrant for her arrest.
Variety asked Attorney General Edward Buckingham if he was the one who wrote the charging document, and if he insisted that Mrs. Pai be served at the airport before she departed Saipan to visit a terminally ill relative in the states.
In an email, Buckingham said: “Concerning this case, the Office of the Attorney General received case materials from representatives of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. on Sept. 16, 2011. As to preparation of the criminal information, no, I did not personally prepare the information.”
He added, “The Office of the Attorney General has no further comment on what is a pending case. Matters such as this are appropriately presented in court, rather than in the media. Further, each person accused of a criminal act is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
According to OPA, Buckingham violated the law when he hosted a political gathering at the governor’s residence last year.
The OPA report was leaked on the same day the AGO filed the complaint against Mrs. Pai.
