Previous Story
Cabrera to be tried on Oct. 16
|
Posted on Oct 11 2000
The trial of former Finance Secretary Antonio R. Cabrera on corruption charges is scheduled to begin on Monday, Oct. 16 in the U.S. District Court on Saipan.
District Judge Alex R. Munson yesterday set the date after the two initial trial schedules were postponed to give way to the defense to prepare for the case.
Mr. Cabrera, 40, is being represented by lawyer Joey Arriola. He is free on a bail of $50,000 cash bond which he posted last July immediately after the criminal charges were filed by the U.S. government.
He had pled not guilty to five counts of embezzlement and bribery contained in the indictment handed down by a grand jury. At the same time, a warrant for his arrest had been issued by Judge Munson
A Cabinet official during former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio’s administration, Mr. Cabrera is accused of embezzling, stealing or obtaining by fraud over $56,000 from programs receiving federal funds while in office.
He was also alleged to have accepted at least $6,000 as bribe money from Candido Castro, owner and operator of land surveying firm Castro and Associates, in exchange for a CNMI government transaction involving $30,621.25 in public funds, based on court papers submitted by the District Attorney’s Office.
The charges — three counts of theft and two counts of bribery — in the federal court came barely six months after the CNMI government filed a civil case in the local court against Mr. Cabrera for allegedly misusing and misappropriating public funds amounting to $74,307.59.
The lawsuit, still pending with the Superior Court, charged him with passing on his personal expenses, including luxury items and even donuts, to the government based on the investigation by the Office of Public Auditor.
Mr. Cabrera was secretary of the Department of Finance from June 1995 up until his resignation in August 1997 due to reported falling out with then-Gov. Tenorio. He received a salary of $54,000 a year during his tenure in office.
The indictment did not provide details of his case in the federal court, but sources have said it is connected with the pending litigation in the Superior Court. (BS)
