Big bucks paid to Torres cronies with federal funds

Guam businesses were among the top-paid vendors of federal pandemic funds in the CNMI. A document listing purchase orders the Torres administration awarded from March 25, 2020 to September 22, 2021 indicates Gov. Ralph Torres gave $192,848,590.07 in pandemic funds to several companies. Many of these companies and their owners are known cronies of the governor.

Four vendors were paid the top 14 purchase orders totaling $72,363,401.69. That represents 37.5 percent – or more than a third – of the federal pandemic monies obligated from the start of the public health emergency to the end of fiscal year 2021.

Those vendors are the Kanoa Resort, Interpacific Resort Corporation, CTSI Logistics, and HBR International, Inc.

The fifth-highest-paid purchase order was made out to Guam-based International Royal, Inc., or Royal Bics. As previously reported by Kandit, the $2,533,069 Royal Bics received in April 2020 was for a variety of personal protective equipment and supplies for frontline workers. Days later, Royal Bics was paid another $1,613,069.30, according to the list.

Another Guam company – MedPharm – collectively was paid more than Royal Bics. Between April 8, 2020 and March 19, 2021, the CNMI government paid MedPharm $5,213,808.85.

Blue Continent’s shown and hidden purchase orders

At first glance, the document – a spreadsheet – shows the Torres administration’s half-a-million dollars in purchase orders to Blue Continent Communications. The company and its proprietor, Gary Sword, has provided exclusive government-procured coverage of coronavirus news briefings. Mr. Sword also was the interviewer in a series of governor’s office-produced interviews of Mr. Torres specifically about the allegations of crime and corruption he faced prior to his impeachment.

The spreadsheet, which was released by the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force to Rep. Corina Magofna, appears to show the CNMI government paid Blue Continent $571,250 only. The spreadsheet, however, had been manipulated to show only the purchase orders made to vendors between fiscal years 2019 and 2021 using federal pandemic funds. Thousands of rows were hidden from the Commonwealth Legislature’s view.

Revealing those rows reveals an additional $228,362 the Torres administration paid the company during the pandemic (up to September 2021). Those payments were made from an additional 52 purchase orders. The funding sources upon which those purchase orders were obligated  ranged from OSHA to 2020 Census to Yutu funds. According to the list, four consecutive purchase orders, all made on September 15, 2021, totaling $139,795 were made to Blue Continent using the funding source titled “Tropical Storm YUTU 31W.” Supertyphoon Yutu ravaged the CNMI in late October 2018, or more than three-and-a-half years ago.

The first image below shows the portion of the spreadsheet indicating the Blue Continent purchase orders as shown to the Commonwealth Legislature. The second image is the spreadsheet, when its manipulation is undone, and all funding sources appear.