Former Guam Sen. Wil Castro instructed the Bank of Saipan to hold a payment to Rowina Ogo just 18 minutes after she began an October 28 tell-all about the corruption of “giants and elves” in her former brother-in-law’s administration.
Mr. Castro is Gov. Ralph Torres’s chief of staff. Ms. Ogo is recently divorced from the governor’s brother, Vincent Torres.
According to documents subpoenaed by a joint investigative committee of the CNMI House of Representatives, Ms. Ogo has applied for funding through the Building Optimism and Opportunities for Stability Together (BOOST) grant program. The joint committee is investigating whether the Torres administration has used the program as a political tool and weapon. It is federally funded.
Mr. Castro was subpoenaed to appear before the committee Friday, and spent the day answering questions and clarifying text messages he had sent to Bank of Saipan officials.
Among those text messages was a 2:18 pm October 28 instruction to Karen Kent of Bank of Saipan that reads:
“IMPORTANT HOLD ROWENA OGO CHECK”
He sent that message as Ms. Ogo was several minutes in to a public testimonial about her knowledge of corruption in the Torres administration.
Among her more cryptic messages were several references to “giants and elves” in the Torres administration whom she claimed were responsible for the corruption the public blamed Torres for. She claimed, among other things, that high level administration officials had stolen public property and were going to work high on drugs.
Mr. Torres lost reelection by a landslide to Gov.-elect Arnold Palacios, who will be sworn into office January 9. It is expected he will enter office with a significant deficit, and almost no federal funds left to deal with the mess of a government Torres will leave behind.
You may watch Ms. Ogo’s testimonial here:
1 Comments
Mabel Doge Luhan
12/17/2022 at 6:15 PM
Nothing to see here. Her award was later increased. I would like you to do us a favor though.