Ex-SHEFA consultant appeals to Fund board

A former consultant of the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance program, Jesusa B. Dris, has been given more time to respond to a recommendation that the NMI Retirement Fund seek a summary judgment in the case it filed against her.

Dris appealed during the public comment section of the Fund’s board meeting on Friday, requesting that she be allowed to further review, be heard, and to make a response to the findings made by hearing officer Edward Manibusan.

Dris admitted that she failed to get the emailed documents regarding the case as she had a family emergency that she needed to attend to in Las Vegas in October last year.

Fund counsel Viola Alepuyo earlier told the board that administrative hearing officer Manibusan has already sent his recommended decision to the board for action, which is the filing of summary judgment in Dris’ case.

Manibusan confirmed with Saipan Tribune that he has already made a recommendation in the case but he declined to further comment on the issue, saying the case is still under litigation.

A summary judgment is a request for a decision by a court of the matters submitted to it, based upon legal arguments only, where no material facts are in dispute. A motion for summary judgment can be granted to resolve disputes involving legal interpretation, but not disputes regarding material facts.

Board chair Sixto K. Igisomar said yesterday that the trustees approved Dris’ request for more time and instructed their legal counsel to communicate their decision to her. He refused to comment further, saying he has yet to read Manibusan’s “recommended action.”

The Fund sued Dris and three other individuals in May last year after they questioned the Fund’s authority to conduct a double-dipping investigation against them. The Fund’s hearing examiner had subpoenaed these individuals but they all refused to appear.

The Fund wants the Superior Court to declare that it has the authority to gather information necessary to conduct its operations. That authority, the Fund said, includes interrogatories, requests for production of documents, taking depositions, and compelling attendance at depositions, hearings, and administrative proceedings.

The Office of the Public Auditor had instructed the Fund in April 2008 to look into whether Dris and other former consultant, both retirees, were double-dipping.

Double dipping means collecting pension checks and drawing salaries from the government at the same time. It is prohibited under CNMI retirement law.