Deliberation on Cabrera corruption case begins

Jury deliberation began late yesterday on former Finance Sec. Antonio R. Cabrera after federal prosecutors wound up its corruption case and the defense decided not to present evidence or witnesses in the continuation of the trial in the U.S. District Court.

Three government witnesses, including Finance Sec. Lucy DLG. Nielsen and Public Auditor Leo L. LaMotte, testified at the last day of the trial, buttressing the prosecution’s charges of theft, misspending of public funds and bribery against the ex-Cabinet official.

If the jury finds him guilty on all charges, Mr. Cabrera, 40, could face up to 10 years imprisonment and fine of not over $250,000 for each of the five counts contained in his indictment.

District Judge Alex R. Munson briefed the 12 jurors — seven women and five men — before they began the deliberation which came at around 5:00 p.m. following the closing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense.

Lawyer Joey A. Arriola, who is representing Mr. Cabrera in the trial, moved to dismiss the charges after the prosecution rest its case due to insufficient evidence, but the judge junked his motion.

Judge Munson said the court believes the federal government has satisfied every element of the crime, namely the three counts of theft and two counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

Closing arguments

In his one-hour closing statement, lead prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Kevin Seely reiterated the allegations against the defendant, citing the numerous documents and testimonies presented since the trial began last week.

He accused Mr. Cabrera of pocketing taxpayers’ dollars, paying himself typhoon differential for eight storms even if he was not eligible and he was off-island for two of the emergency situation, and accepting bribe.

Rejecting the defense’s claim that Mr. Cabrera’s spending of the public funds was authorized by the CNMI government, Mr. Seely said the former finance chief should be held accountable for his action because he was entrusted with protecting the local coffers.

“This is a guy in a very high position reaching down and breaching public trust,” he told the jury. “It appears that the most responsible person is the one who would rather point the finger and blame anybody else.”

Mr. Arriola appealed to the jurors to return a not guilty verdict on his client, saying the prosecution failed to prove its case with “inconsistent and conflicting” testimonies.

He maintained the people who signed on documents that allowed Mr. Cabrera to spend the public funds must be held accountable, instead of his client who is being tried in the court.

“His day in court has arrived, I ask you let him be free,” he said in his 40-minute closing argument.

Likewise, Mr. Arriola attacked the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, almost all of whom were former and current CNMI government officials, noting they don’t even know their duties and responsibilities.

He also harped on the absence of proof to back the bribery allegation since the supposed recorded conversation between Mr. Cabrera and two of the witnesses was not produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation which wire-tapped the incident.

“We can go on and on going over documents but in the end, when the smoke clears, you have to prove that crime is committed,” Mr. Arriola told the jurors.

Lavish spending

Earlier in the day, Mr. LaMotte and Ms. Nielsen took the witness stand at the resumption of the hearing following a two-day break.

An audit report that formed the basis of the case was detailed by OPA chief, showing the lavish spending by Mr. Cabrera when he was the secretary of Department of Finance from June 1995 to August 1997 during former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio’s administration.

Among the questionable expenditures disclosed in the report were $13,000 for hotel bills during a five-day trip in Manila; a $1,000 cash advance made from Hong Kong Bank; and personal items that included computer software for children and fax machine for a personal business at home.

The amount totaled about $100,250, of which $40,000 was immediately demanded for payment by the CNMI government while $60,000 would need supporting documents and receipts, according to Mr. LaMotte.

Ms. Nielsen, on the other hand, testified that she had sent a letter to Mr. Cabrera asking payment, but the former official did not respond to the demand.

When asked by Mr. Seely on the responsibilities of finance secretary, she said Mr. Cabrera should not have been signing checks and accounts which is a function of his subordinate, like the director of finance or the treasurer.

The prosecution has previously argued that some of the checks and accounts paid to Mr. Cabrera were signed by himself or other officials who were not supposed to approve or certify them.

On the travel advances of $20,000 for the Manila trip in December 1996, Ms. Nielsen said the $20,884.35 should have been deducted to reconcile the financial records.

Prosecutors have alleged that Mr. Cabrera pocketed the $20,000 after he asked reimbursement of $20,884.35 following the trip.

“The secretary of finance has no excuse not to account for that money,” Ms. Nielsen told the court.