LV fugitive arrested at airport

A man wanted in Las Vegas, Nevada since 2013 for theft and fraud related to a casino gambling debt was arrested as soon as he arrived at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport last Thursday.

Da Gong Jiang, 56, a Chinese national, was brought before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho yesterday afternoon after the Office of the Attorney General filed an extradition case against him.

Bruce Berline appeared as private counsel for Jiang. Chief prosecutor John Bradley appeared for the CNMI government.

Camacho retained the $346,839 cash bail that Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio initially imposed in issuing a fugitive arrest warrant against Jiang last Tuesday.

Camacho set an identification hearing/status conference for Nov. 27 at 10am.

Berline said there could be a way to resolve the matter but they are willing for now to attend the identification hearing.

Bradley said a preliminary hearing does not apply in this case.

According to court documents, it was U.S. Customs Border Protection officer Mark Anthony Butac who found out that Jiang is a fugitive from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the State of Nevada,.

CBP officer Ronald Atalig Muña stated in his declaration that Jiang arrived Thursday at the airport and, while being processed, Butac found out that there was an outstanding arrest warrant against him.

The arrest warrant was issued on July 22, 2013, charging Jiang with fraud-insufficient funds check.

Muña said the Clerk County District Attorney’s Office asked that Jiang be extradited to Nevada.

A $346,839 cash bail is currently set in the Nevada arrest warrant.

Muña said the date of birth on Jiang’s passport matches the date of birth on the arrest warrant.

Muña said the information about Jiang was sent via fax to the U.S. CBP Office of Field Operations, Saipan from Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

In a later interview, Bradley said that Jiang is wanted on charges of theft and fraud involving $346,839 related to some sort of casino gambling debt. Bradley said he does not have details about the case in Nevada as it happened several years ago.

Bradley said Jiang arrived on Saipan with his wife from China for a vacation here and that Jiang’s passport and fingerprints triggered an electronic red flag about a warrant in Nevada.

When asked about the CNMI government’s next step, Bradley said they need additional paperwork from Nevada so they can agree to release him so Nevada comes and takes him there to be prosecuted.

“I will now be communicating with Nevada to make sure that we get that. We have to get what is called a governor’s warrant,” Bradley said.