Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo imposed the bail on Dereck Robert Duenas in yesterday’s bail hearing.
Govendo set the preliminary hearing for June 30 at 1:30 p.m. and the arraignment for July 6 at 9 a.m.
Duenas was charged with conspiracy, bribery and misconduct in public office.
His co-defendant, 50-year-old Kim Dong Hyen, was arrested in Susupe on Thursday afternoon for conspiracy and bribery.
On Friday afternoon, Associate Judge David A. Wiseman imposed a $5,000 bail on Kim, 10 percent or $500 of which must be in cash and the rest in unsecured bond.
Wiseman set Kim’s arraignment for July 6.
Detective Vicente Boki Babauta, in an affidavit submitted to the court, stated that on May 5, 2009, an anonymous caller reported to the Office of the Public Auditor of a possible illegal issuance of a CNMI driver’s license at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Babauta said he met with the witness the next day who told him that he saw a Korean national, later identified as Kim, bringing “customers” to BMV for a driver’s license.
The witness said he also witnessed on several occasions that the same customers would have deficiencies in their applications, yet somehow they often walk out of BMW with a driver’s license.
It was learned that Kim Dong Hyen has been in the CNMI illegally since 2002.
The witness said Kim would often bring food, cigarettes, drinks or “small cash” to the staff at the driver’s license section.
Babauta said he learned that Kim would bring first time applicants for driver’s license to the BMV and would charge an average of $350 per client.
Babauta said he met another witness, a woman who came to Saipan as a tourist in Feb. 2009.
The second witness said she paid Kim $200 to help her get a driver’s license.
Babauta said it was after the Thanksgiving holiday in 2008 when Duenas started to help Kim’s clients pass the written and actual driving tests.
Kim would then pay Duenas from $30 to $100 at the BMV during working hours or at other arranged locations after working hours.
Babuata said he learned that Duenas also dealt directly with clients not associated with Kim.
He said the clients would offer Duenas any amount to pass, and that although the defendant never asked for any amount, he just accepted whatever amount they offered.
The payments, which ranged from $40 to $150, would take place in the car, and the frequency of this activity occurred from two to four times a week, the affidavit stated.
