$332K paid to Nonstop, including suspicious hotel room charges; Travilla pleads the Fifth

Nonstop Corporation was paid more money to market the controversial election-year BOOST program than nearly every individual BOOST recipient was granted, according to evidence presented in today’s House anti-corruption hearings featuring Rob Travilla on the witness stand.

Mr. Travilla, according to his testimony, is an officer of the company along with Salina Sapp, who is expected to testify this afternoon when the committee reconvenes.

The self-made Saipan businessman appeared with his attorney – Joseph Horey – answered foundational questions from the House panel, but invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and refused to answer any questions of substance related to the alleged misuse of federal funds.

And the panel had many questions.

For two hours, legislators grilled Mr. Travilla on a range of issues related to the marketing of the BOOST program and his affiliation with the Torres administration and re-election campaign.

His reply to every question: “On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege and respectfully decline to answer the question.”

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, among other rights, the right of a citizen to not incriminate himself.

“To clarify, Mr. Travilla,” committee chairman Ralph Yumul interjected as the witness began to roll out his invocation of his Fifth Amendment right, “this is not a criminal proceeding and this committee is tasked to investigate the program, which you have handled. We have questions related to receipts, invoices, accounting and all these subjects. Are you refusing to answer these questions, too?”

“On the advice of my counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege and respectfully decline to answer your question,” Mr. Travilla replied.

“Are you refusing to answer the question because you believe your response to the question posed to you might implicate you or your partner in a crime?” Mr. Yumul pressed.

“On the advice of my counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege and respectfully decline to answer your question,” Mr. Travilla replied.

Mr. Yumul continued, “You do understand that you cannot plead the Fifth to questions that are not directly or indirectly likely to incriminate you?”

“On the advice of my counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege and respectfully decline to answer your question,” Mr. Travilla replied.

The questioning, along with Mr. Travilla’s blanket invocation of his Fifth Amendment right continued by panel members for another hour and 20 minutes before Marissa Flores produced a document detailing 13 checks allegedly paid to Nonstop Corporation totaling $323,415.29.

The payments were made between August 11, 2022 and December 2, 2022, when the single-largest payment of $100,552 was made. That payment was made only days after Ralph Torres lost the election for governor to Arnold Palacios and while rumors swirled that Celina Babauta and Donald Manglona would be convening an investigation into the $17 million program. That investigation by Ms. Babauta and Mr. Manglona – who were leaders in the House at the time – was short lived, as their terms in the House ended only weeks later. Mr. Yumul and committee vice chairman Edwin Propst were designated by Speaker Edmund Villagomez to lead the current tribunal, which has since gathered evidence that is going beyond the original Babauta-Manglona investigation.

The total amount allegedly paid to Nonstop exceeds 99 percent of the grants issued for the BOOST program, and could have provided 66 CNMI small businesses with $5,000 grants. Several BOOST applicants were denied grants, while the vast majority of those who received the federally-funded grants were politically related to the Torres administration and BOOST program administrators.

Among the payments made to Nonstop, according to the document Ms. Flores presented, was Check No. 11082 issued by the Department of Finance on November 4, 2022 for $33,103.29. The payment and description of the payment matches an event Nonstop threw at the World Resort hotel in Saipan for the BOOST program for which the government reimbursed Nonstop for expenses.

Among the revelations made by Ms. Flores during that earlier portion of the hearing was that a substantial portion of that reimbursement was for six days of hotel room stays for up to 12 people for a one-day event to market the BOOST program. That program, Mr. Propst and former congresswoman Tina Sablan have repeatedly said, was a program that gave money away to people and for which it was ludicrous to spend any substantial amount on marketing free money.

Mr. Travilla refused to answer why taxpayers had to foot the bill for any of the people who stayed in the hotel rooms during those six days.

Mr. Propst also pointed out that according to the price quotation from the World Resort for the use of one of its function rooms, that the event stage and lighting would be provided at no additional cost by the hotel. In an invoice Mr. Travilla allegedly charged to the CNMI government, an entry was made detailing that Nonstop allegedly paid a third party for the stage and lighting. That same invoice showed Nonstop also paid a decorator $20,000, and a party planner $10,000.

Mr. Travilla refused to name the third parties or to answer why the amounts paid to them appeared to be exorbitant for a one-day event in a room with maximum capacity of 306 people.