Former governor’s brother allegedly failed to pay taxes every year his brother was in office


The Commonwealth government, on the brink of financial collapse, is taking steps to deliver to taxpayers what belongs to them. Among these measures is the demand for income taxes owed to the government.

On Friday in federal court, a tax lien was placed on the assets of former Gov. Ralph Torres’s eldest brother, Vincent Torres. According to the lien, Vincent Torres allegedly failed to pay income taxes every year his brother was the governor. The lien, filed by Richard Santos – Manager of the Collection and Remittance Branch of the Division of Revenue and Taxation, states Vince Torres owes $1,175,096.64 in taxes dating back to the tax period ending December 31, 2014.

According to the lien, Vince Torres’s unpaid tax balance for tax year 2014 is $73,537.68. The tax return for that year would have been filed in 2015, the year Ralph Torres became the governor upon the untimely death of the late Gov. Eloy Inos.

The alleged tax debt leaped to $564,156.23 the following year, followed by successive amounts of alleged unpaid taxes through the tax period ending December 31, 2020.

To place the lien amount into perspective, if those taxes were collected, the Commonwealth government would be able to save the jobs of 60 low-paid government workers. Put another way, the amount would be near enough to cover the deficit Ralph Torres left behind in the governor’s office alone.

According to the document, which also was filed in the Superior Court of the CNMI, “If any person liable to pay any tax neglects or refuses to pay the same after demand, the amount shall be a lien in favor of the CNMI upon all property and rights to property, whether real or personal, belonging to such person.”

It is unclear whether Vince Torres previously has contested the assessments.


6 Comments

  • Tina Palacios

      02/13/2023 at 8:28 PM

    2 things in life that is Grantee that’s death & taxes . You will never escape fr it even when you’re dead Tax will come after you. Must be local taxes 🙄 because if its Federal taxes he won’t get away this far.

  • Mabel Doge Luhan

      02/13/2023 at 11:32 PM

    Those horrible tax collectors, troubling Vince’s pretty little head when he’s running around the Idaho woods gunning down innocent animals with his collection of high-powered rifles like the real man that he is! Just imagine if the Bar Association hears of this tax delinquency! But skipping out on $1.2MM of taxes is all certainly just an honest mistake borne of his having studied tax law at Cooley High, which is to law schools what the Marianas Variety is to newspapers.

    Speaking of birdcage insulation, the tax lien was publicly filed February 9, so we can expect the Marianas Variety to report on it… how about never? Their jobs could be done by AI, if we can train AI on teleserye and Tucker Carlson Tonight.

    As IRS-CI’s writs of execution usually say in the fine print, BITCH BETTER HAVE MY MONEY!

  • Why am I not surprised?

    Them Torres boys need a trip to the woodshed
    and learn about right and wrong.

  • Mabel Doge Luhan

      02/15/2023 at 11:54 AM

    The Variety reported it! Kind of. Only six days after it happened, and only two days after Kandit’s article went viral.

    Helpfully, the Variety used 1980s clip art for TAXES instead of an image of the filing or a link to the PDF.

    In a brief few paragraphs, they skillfully managed to uphold their reputation and still include at least one blatant factual error: claiming it was filed February 10, when it was actually February 9.

    Also, they made sure not to offend any “ranking officials” and made no mention of the dates of Si Vicente’s nonpayment exactly coinciding with the dates of Si Rafet’s reign, nor any calculation of how much income one would have to earn (or at least receive) to garner a $500K income tax bill.

    Any attempt to get comments from DOF, Vince, Vince’s firm, CNMI AAGs, average taxpayers, or anybody? Any analysis of what this means? Any questions about why it took so long? Any investigation of the dates of assessment? Of course not. That would have required thought and effort.

    The Marianas Variety: bringing you a copy-and-paste of all that happened six days ago, as long as it’s available online and Kandit already did the footwork.

    And the Tribune? Wala pa! But in the service of the community, there’s always crucial coverage of how fast the owner’s daughter runs.

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