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FBI collects tax documents from tax service company
The Federal Bureau of Investigation visited the accounting and tax service company RR & Associates Corp. for the CNMI yesterday for unknown reasons. Photos widely circulated on social media showed FBI agents taking boxes—later confirmed to be client information—from the RR & Associates Corp. office Garapan. It was not immediately learned what the visit was all about.
In a brief interview with Rufo Mafnas, who co-owns RR & Associates, he said the boxes involved confidential client tax information but was not able to comment further.
Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from FBI Honolulu spokesperson Michelle Ernest to obtain more details about the matter but she had not responded as of press time.
Mafnas said their account and tax services deal with confidential matters that involve client taxes, so they wouldn’t be able to disclose anything.
Mafnas confirmed he was there while the FBI agents were collecting boxes of confidential records of a client’s information.
Observers in the area told Saipan Tribune that the FBI agents arrived at 10am yesterday and left sometime around 1pm, adding that they only learned snippets of what was going on after the FBI agents left.
A photo that circulated on social media platforms showed FBI agents carrying boxes and transferring them to a silver Ford F-150 truck. Both bystanders and Mafnas said there were four FBI agents who came to collect what they needed.
There were speculations that Department of Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente visited the facility last March 15 before the FBI came, but it was not confirmed. Saipan Tribune reached out to Benavente about this matter, but as of press time, she has not responded.
At first there were speculations that the FBI agents were taking boxes from a nearby law firm. However, Saipan Tribune checked and clerks of the law office confirmed that the FBI agents visited RR & Associates.
