MORE “mind-boggling” irregularities were revealed Thursday as the House joint committee resumed its public hearing on the Building Optimism, Opportunity, and Stability Together or BOOST program.
Appearing before the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations and Ways and Means Committees was Karen Kalen, Bank of Saipan’s loan manager who was tasked to receive BOOST applications.
She was also responsible for logging in the applications and presenting them to the review panel whose members were the Office of the Governor’s Chief of Staff Wil Castro, former Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig and Commerce Secretary Edward “Tofila” Deleon Guerrero who was represented by Economic Development Director Jesus Taisague.
Bank of Saipan is the administrator of the BOOST program.
Among many other things, Kalen was asked by Rep. Tina Sablan about the $200,000 BOOST award that Magalahi Grill received on Dec. 13.
Kalen said Magalahi Grill was the only applicant awarded a BOOST grant even before it applied for it. Magalahi Grill submitted its application on Dec. 15.
Kalen said she believes Magalahi Grill is owned by Atalig’s sister.
Citing text messages obtained by the joint committee, Sablan said there was also an instance when the then-Finance secretary called to inform the bank that he would pick up the BOOST check on behalf of an applicant who is a member of his family.
But the business owners themselves showed up to pick up the checks, Sablan said. Atalig’s sister who owns The Trove came to pick up a check while his mother who owns Cory’s Garden also picked up a check, Sablan added.
The Trove was awarded $125,000 while Cory’s Garden received $50,000.
Sablan also noted that Covid Care Force Micronesia, which received $150,000, was listed as a non-profit organization, but it does not appear to be one in its business plan.
“I find it frankly mind-boggling that they would even be categorized as a non-profit,” Sablan said. The review panel took the time to review the application, prioritized it and approved its grant application as a non-profit “when [the] application indicates that they are not a non-profit.”
“It makes me wonder how much time any of the review panelists actually spent to review these applications,” she added. “… It just raises all kinds of questions how much due diligence was done in the review of these grant awards.”
Kalen said Castro had access to the BOOST’s main website and had instructed the bank to allow Roil Soil owner Shayne Villanueva and Non-Stop’s Salina Sapp to review the applications stored in 10 boxes in a room designated for the BOOST program.
Kalen said Castro would come to the bank to review the BOOST applications even during non-business hours.
She said the Finance and Commerce secretaries would also come to the bank after receiving a call from Castro.
“They did come in and we gave them a list of BOOST instructions…and a list of applications,” she said, adding that it was also Castro who gave Villanueva and Sapp the authority to review the documents.
Kalen said her own business, Ocean Six LLC, applied for and received a $50,000 BOOST grant. Ocean Six is a “grab and go” restaurant that serves lunch and provides catering services.
She said there are three other Bank of Saipan employees who also received BOOST awards. Their businesses are ground maintenance, a music recording studio, and a massage parlor.
She also said that she received a lot of calls from employees of the governor’s office regarding their own applications. “If they asked me to advance their application to the review panel, I would give the list to Wil [Castro],” she added.
Kalen said they’ve already stopped accepting applications and have told everyone following up on their application to wait for an update from the review panel.
Before adjourning the joint committee meeting, co-chair Rep. Donald Manglona said: “We have just received over 200 pages of additional documents [that] the [joint] committee will continue to review. We will provide further updates…or we’ll schedule [another] committee hearing after we have some time to review [the additional documents].”
Also present during the joint committee meeting were co-chair Rep. Celina Babauta, Reps. Corina Magofna, Leila Staffler, Joel Camacho and Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao.
Bank of Saipan loan manager Karen Kalen appears before a House joint committees conducting a public hearing on the Building Optimism, Opportunity, and Stability Together or BOOST program on Thursday in the House chamber.
Rep. Tina Sablan listens during Thursday’s public hearing on the BOOST program. Also in photo: Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao.
Rep. Corina Magofna speaks during the public hearing on the BOOST program on Thursday.
