BOOST officials cancel grant request, return partial payments once hearings started

Two companies with direct ties to the administration either canceled their requests for small business grant, or returned a portion of payments made to them under the Building Optimism and Opportunities for Stability Together (BOOST) grant program.

On Monday, December 19, Gov. Ralph Torres’s chief of staff, Wil Castro appeared before the CNMI House of Representatives joint investigative committee for his second day of testimony. As Mr. Castro was testifying, two events happened:

1. The Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a subpoena at the Bank of Saipan and reportedly secured boxes of BOOST program documents.
2. A company that applied for BOOST – Pacific Horizon Education Services – pulled their request for grant.

Pacific Horizon Education Services, according to its proposal, applied for $475,000. According to that same proposal, it is owned by Dr. Debra T. Cabrera. She is a resident of Guam, and a full-time employee of the University of Guam.

Dr. Cabrera is the longtime girlfriend of Mr. Castro.

Mr. Castro – on that same day – challenged the joint investigative committee to name “a single family member” of his who has applied for BOOST grant. He adamantly said none of his family members submitted an application for BOOST. According to the application, he lied before the committee under oath.

Days later, and following intense interrogation of witnesses in the legislature, one of the most controversial figures in the BOOST corruption scandal returned a small fraction of the money paid to him using federal funds.

In a letter addressed to Bank of Saipan president John Arroyo (the bank was the administrator of the program), Shayne Villanueva of Roil Soil wrote, in part: “Having reviewed our financial records and billing, we have identified invoice #113 and #115 have expenses that should have been shouldered by the company.”

He enclosed a check for $12,000 made out to the Bank of Saipan. The reimbursement was for $6,000 paid from one invoice, and another $6,000 from another.

 

Roil Soil’s Invoice 113 was for $25,000. Of that amount, $19,000 was the monthly retainer fee. The $6,000 Mr. Villanueva returned was journalized as “Equipment Program Requirement.” The purchases included a Macbook Pro, and and iPad Pro. The cost of both top-of-the-line computers does not equal $6,000. No price quotes were attached to the invoice.

Roil Soil’s Invoice 115 was for $21,000, which included a second monthly retainer fee of $15,000. The balance of $6,000, according to the invoice, was for a GoPro camera and accessories, an FPV drone, and a “Sony Camera or comparable asset.”