BREAKING NEWS: Feds seize money from Bank of Saipan accounts in conspiracy uncovered from 2019 raids on the governor

The federal government finally is pursuing action following its raids of Gov. Ralph Torres’s office and home, the office of his brothers’s law firm, and the Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) legal office in November 2019.

The United States Attorney for Guam and the CNMI has seized more than $300,000 from two accounts at the Bank of Saipan, according to a December 30, 2022 asset forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Federal asset forfeitures precede criminal indictments.

The crimes alleged by U.S. Attorney Shawn Anderson include wire fraud, money laundering, illegally influencing government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, and tax evasion. The alleged conspiracy involved a foreign entity, according to the complaint.

The complaint does not spell out the names of the defendants, and only refers to the two accounts from which cash was seized at Bank of Saipan as MCS 1 and MCS 2. The owner of the accounts is an A.Y., a resident of the CNMI, who is the sole owner and operator of MCS. The company incorporated for the stated purpose of “banking and financial services, real estate development, and business management.”

Also involved in the conspiracy is a “Foreign Parent Company” registered in Bermuda, but headquartered in Hong Kong.

The complaint then names a Foreign Payroll Company before listing the final four alleged co-conspirators:

“Individual 1” is a resident of the CNMI and is partner in a business in the CNMI.

“Individual 2” is a resident of the CNMI and is partner in a business in the CNMI.

“Individual 3” is a resident of the CNMI and a political figure in the CNMI who owes a fiduciary duty to the citizens of the CNMI.

“Individual 4” is a resident of the CNMI and a political figure in the CNMI who owes a fiduciary duty to the citizens of the CNMI.

The complaint further alleges MCS made payments to consultants for “Legal and Professional Services.” Those payments allegedly were disguised as overhead expenses and used to evade taxes.

In a December 2019 story by Kandit News, Kandit published a federal document that listed 30 persons and entities the Federal Bureau of Investigation had named as being tied to the November 2019 raids. At the top of the list was an Alfred Yue, followed by a Ron Anderson Li. The two gentleman are the owners of Marianas Consultancy Services, which also was on what Kandit dubbed the “Dirty 30.”

Kandit had previously published a story in January 2020 about the asset forfeiture of Mr. Yue’s accounts in both Saipan and Guam after seeing the disclosure in the online list the FBI and other federal agencies are required to keep and update daily. The amounts taken from the Bank of Saipan accounts in that notice of asset forfeiture corresponds with the amounts in the December 30, 2022 complaint. This complaint, which was filed in the federal court in Saipan, does not include another amount seized from Mr. Yue from the Bank of Guam back in November 2019: $145,803.34.

This is a developing story.