Company claims that M/V Luta owners failed to pay $300K loan

A limited liability company has claimed to have a maritime lien on cargo ship M/V Luta after the vessel’s owners allegedly failed to repay any part of their $300,000 loan or any interest.

Long Consulting LLC, through counsel Daniel T. Guidotti, asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Tuesday to allow it to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Japanese investor Takahisa Yamamoto against Lt. Gov. Victor Hocog and some owners/operators of M/V Luta.

Long Consulting’s complaint is suing M/V Luta for foreclosure of maritime lien. The company is also suing Luta Mermaid LLC, Hocog, Abelina T. Mendiola, Deron T. Mendiola, and Fidel S. Mendiola III for breach of contract.

Luta Mermaid owns M/V Luta. Abelina Mendiola, Fidel S. Mendiola III, and Deron Mendiola are members of the company. Abelina Mendiola is based on Rota, while Fidel Mendiola is a resident of Louisiana, while Deron Mendiola is a resident of Idaho, according to court papers.

Guidotti asked the court to issue a judgment for $300,000 against M/V Luta, plus 10 percent interest, attorney’s fees, and court costs.

Guidotti asked the court to order the sale of M/V Luta and for the proceeds to be applied toward any judgment rendered in favor of Long Consulting.

Guidotti stated in the complaint that Luta Mermaid, through Abelina Mendiola, approached Long Consulting in 2015 about a loan to bring the vessel from its dock in Lousiana into active service in the CNMI.

The lawyer said that on Nov. 4, 2015, Abelina Mendiola, in her capacity as president of Luta Mermaid, signed a loan agreement.

Under the deal, Long Consulting agreed to loan $300,000 to Luta Mermaid in exchange for the vessel as collateral plus other promises. Abelina Mendiola also allegedly signed on Nov. 4, 2015, a security agreement that pledged the vessel as security for the loan agreement.

Guidotti said Luta Mermaid used the loan proceeds to fund M/V Luta’s operating expenses from its dock in Louisiana to the CNMI.

Guidotti said Luta Mermaid operated M/V Luta in the Pacific Ocean, specifically in the waters around Saipan, Tinian, and Rota until the U.S. Marshals seized the vessel on Oct. 25, 2016.

Guidotti said that Luta Mermaid, Deron Mendiola, Abelina Mendiola, and Fidel Mendiola have defaulted on the loan to Long Consulting by failing to make any payment on the $300,000 principal amount or any interest.

Aside from Hocog, Yamamoto is suing M/V Luta, Luta Mermaid LLC, Abelina T. Mendiola, Deron T. Mendiola, Fidel S. Mendiola III, Fidel Mendiola Jr., and Robert Toelkes—for breach of contract, fraud, and unjust enrichment.

Yamamoto alleged that Hocog and co-defendants refused to pay back the $3.4 million that he put up for M/V Luta. He asked the court that the vessel be condemned and be sold to pay his demands, including interest and cost.

The U.S. Marshal Service seized M/V Luta and appointed the National Maritime Services Inc. as custodian of the vessel.

Last May, former Department of Public Lands secretary John DelRosario filed a taxpayer’s lawsuit against Hocog and Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson over the alleged adoption of a Rota Legislative Delegation Resolution 19-3 without public notice that purportedly authorized payment of $400,000 to Luta Mermaid, a private company owned by Hocog’s relatives. (Ferdie de la Torre)