‘M/V Luta in Guam, has new owner’

The controversial cargo ship M/V Luta is already in Guam and another company now owns the vessel, according to attorney George L. Hasselback yesterday.

Hasselback told Saipan Tribune that his client, Takahisa Yamamoto, has returned to Japan and that no settlement agreement was reached between Yamamoto, Lt. Gov. Victor Hocog, Luta Mermaid LLC, and the Mendiolas of Rota.

Abelina T. Mendiola, Deron T. Mendiola, and Fidel S. Mendiola III are officers of Luta Mermaid LLC.

A source said Yamamoto is very disappointed, considering that he spent millions of dollars for M/V Luta.

Yamamoto recently notified the U.S. District Court for the NMI that he intends to drop his lawsuit against Hocog, Luta Mermaid LLC, and the Mendiolas, with an option to refile the case in the future.

When asked by Saipan Tribune yesterday about an update on the M/V Luta issue, Hasselback said it is his understanding that the ship is no longer in the CNMI and that it’s been relocated to Guam with a new owner.

Hasselback said he has no information as to when the ship was transferred to Guam.

Hasselback also stated that Yamamoto will also oppose the request of Luta Mermaid and LLC to be paid court costs and attorney’s fees.

Luta Mermaid and the Mendiolas, through their counsel, William M. Fitzgerald, stated that the court found that the arrest of M/V Luta was improper and that Yamamoto did not have probable cause to arrest the vessel, and that the arrest could not stand.

Fitzgerald said his clients spent a lot of money in payment of costs and attorneys’ fees to gain release of the vessel and the dismissal of the suit should be conditioned upon an order requiring Yamamoto to pay the costs and fees.

Fitzgerald was not available yesterday for comments about M/V Luta allegedly being relocated to Guam.

Hocog, through counsel, informed the court last week that he is not objecting to Yamamoto’s motion to dismiss his lawsuit.

Last April 2, Hasselback and Fitzgerald informed the court about their ongoing settlement talks.

Yamamoto is suing Hocog, Luta Mermaid, and the Mendiolas for allegedly refusing to pay back the $3.4 million that he put up for the vessel.

In February 2017, the CNMI government, through the Office of the Attorney General, filed a lawsuit against Luta Mermaid and the Mendiolas for allegedly refusing to return the $400,000 in public funds that was loaned to them for the ship’s operations.

The case is pending in Superior Court.

In May 2016, 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 that purportedly authorized the payment of $400,000 to Luta Mermaid, a private company owned by the Mendiolas, who are Hocog’s relatives.

In December 2016, Superior Court Judge Pro Tempore Timothy H. Bellas dismissed DelRosario’s claims against Hocog, saying his conduct is covered by legislative immunity.

In July 2017, Bellas dismissed DelRosario’s claims against Larson after both parties agreed to settle the case.