“I did not show the Apex Manufacturing price list to former CUC Executive Director Anthony Guerrero because I knew he was [going] along with Villagomez in the 2007 transaction,” CUC acting procurement and supply manager Immanuel B. Sablan said when cross-examined by defense lawyer David Lujan.
Sablan said he knew that the manufacturer’s price from Apex for Rydlyme was only $9.95 a gallon, and that the quotation from Blue Pacific, owned by defendant Joaquina Santos, was $35 and $45 a gallon.
Santos is the lt. governor’s sister and the wife of another co-defendant, former Commerce Secretary James. Santos.
Sablan said the requisition voucher for 60 drums of Rydlyme dated Oct. 27, 2007 was marked as “emergency.”
He added that he considered it unusual for then-CUC administrative support specialist Charlene Mendiola Tenorio to ask for a quotation from Blue Pacific for 60 drums of Rydlyme because it was not her duty to do so.
“Each staff at CUC has specific duties assigned, and preparing a quotation letter is not her duty but the duty of procurement specialist Joseph Fejeran,” Sablan said.
He said when the contract for the Rydlyme transaction reached him, he did not sign it but placed it on Guerrero’s table.
He said since Guerrero was not in, he just placed a note on top of the contract and said that he would not sign it.
Sablan, whose duty is to check whether CUC complies with procurement procedures, said there were many discrepancies in the contract and the amount was “unusually big.”
The jury trial of Villagomez and the Santos couple began on March 30, 2009.
They were indicted for conspiracy to defraud the federal government, wire fraud and theft concerning federal funds.
Guerrero, who is also one of the defendants, has entered a guilty plea and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution.
