Saipan University’s Ph.D. in Criminal Justice

It looks like 2005 is off to a good start. One reason? Saipan has redeemed its reputation by witnessing the criminal mastermind behind the Saipan University scam, Park Soon Kyung, earn a Ph.D. in criminal justice…

…and what a way to earn a degree; via real life experience. Yes, as you probably know, Mr. Park, or, more accurately, “Convict Park,” earned a nine-year, one-month tenure in Club Fed for a shameless fraud that preyed on Chinese folks who chased dreams of educational betterment on Saipan. Nine years in the federal pen? I give the justice system an “A-plus” on that count. Justice was served, and I, for one, am happy about it.

Crossroads cut both ways, and the Commonwealth has seen the best and the worst of that gig. Convict Park represents the worst, he’s just one of many crooks who use the CNMI’s crossroads status as a safe haven for fraud and other nefarious activities. All sorts of creatures lurk in the world’s shadows, and the CNMI is a jurisdictional shadow in many ways. Convict Park’s shameless fraud was more than just heartless predation, it was also an undeserved black eye for Saipan.

Ah–but justice was done, and quick! The moral issues are too obvious to flog, so let’s consider the practical. Namely, this: Reputation is everything. Everything in business, everything in family, everything in life. Unfortunately, on the business side of things, Saipan has suffered from a bad reputation for a number of reasons. Some, frankly, are well-deserved reasons. But the scourge of Convict Park was not deserved, and the good people of the Commonwealth were collectively victimized by the Saipan University scam, since it besmirched the reputation of the CNMI at large. Scandals like that don’t give investors a warm-fuzzy feeling.

Meanwhile, we have to ask ourselves if Saipan’s business community isn’t a bit two-faced when it comes to this stuff. On one hand, everyone bemoans the lack of investors…which is mainly a function of Saipan’s less-than-stellar reputation in international finance circles. And yet, on the other hand, much of the business community has a knack for looking the other way when fraudulent monkey business and unethical behavior is right under everyone’s nose. I’m not saying this was the case with Saipan University, but I am saying that it has been the case in a lot of other events that never quite seemed to make the headlines or the court dockets. In my book, tolerating crooked behavior is the same as sanctioning it…if not legally, then at least morally. A border-town, quick-buck mentality is a self-defeating proposition. Not everyone in the Commonwealth has that mindset, of course. But, far too many do.

Hopefully, then, Park’s conviction will serve as a warning to other crooks out there, who will perhaps decide to steer for more accommodating shores. Note to crooks: Try Wall Street instead. Fraud is legal there, as long as you do it “legally” and have the right connections.

There will be a lot of well-intentioned, but misguided, blather about how another Saipan University debacle can be avoided if the Commonwealth just enacts ever more bureaucratic impediments to operating a business. But speed bumps don’t make a better road, only a slower one. That’s a topic for a different day, but the fact remains that the Park conviction should be food for thought on everyone’s plate. There are crooks attracted to the Commonwealth, and tolerating them is, ultimately, just as bad as being one of them.

Good riddance to Park. If I had my way, the FBI would triple its presence in the Commonwealth and find Convict Park some deserving roommates. When it comes to good vs. evil, even paradise needs some help.

(Ed Stephens, Jr. is an economist and columnist for the Saipan Tribune. Ed4Saipan@yahoo.com)