‘It’s unclear how Torres spent $93M CDL funds’

DeLeon Guerrero asks OPA to audit FEMA’s CDL funds
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Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero

To date, it remains unclear how and where former governor Ralph DLG Torres spent the $93-million Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Disaster Loan funds, according to Senate President Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan), who also wants to know if there are any such funds that are still available.

She said the CNMI received the CDL in 2021 and that Torres was the expenditure authority of the funds at the time.

The Senate president wrote a letter to temporary public auditor Dora I. Deleon Guerrero last Feb. 3, requesting the Office of the Public Auditor to do an audit to ensure that the CDL funds were expended according to any approved spending plan.

The president asked OPA to conduct the audit to determine what fund the $93-million CDL loan was recorded and accounted for; total expenditures; total encumbrances; total reimbursements and identify what activities or programs would have reimburse the CDL Fund; and balance of CDL as of Jan. 31, 2023.

There was no immediate word on when OPA plans to conduct the audit and a timeline on when it expects to finish the audit.

Ferdie De La Torre | Reporter
Ferdie Ponce de la Torre is a senior reporter of Saipan Tribune. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and has covered all news beats in the CNMI. He is a recipient of the CNMI Supreme Court Justice Award. Contact him at ferdie_delatorre@Saipantribune.com
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