MPLT to DPL: Where’s the rest of the cash?

The Marianas Public Land Trust is directing the Department of Public Lands to “immediately report and remit” in full all public land lease proceeds, saying that these monies can be invested to increase the amount being remitted to the general fund.

MPLT chair Pedro R. Deleon Guerrero told DPL Secretary Oscar M. Babauta in a Feb. 24 “demand” letter that Public Lands “continues to unlawfully hold and withhold” public land lease proceeds that should have been remitted to the autonomous agency created to hold and invest the money.

Deleon Guerrero gave Babauta until March 24 or “within 30 days” since the letter was written to remit these funds.

Should Babauta fail to meet their demand, Deleon Guerrero warned that MPLT will ask the Office of the Public Auditor to investigate, which may lead to prosecution by the Office of the Attorney General. He said MPLT may pursue statutory and constitutional authority in filing suit for the accounting of funds and hold DPL liable for violations such as breach of fiduciary duty.

“We hope that such actions will be unnecessary,” added Deleon Guerrero.

Deleon Guerrero said MPLT trustees have had several meetings with DPL to discuss “continuing and unresolved concerns” concerning DPL’s compliance with constitutional requirements to remit public land lease proceeds to MPLT.

He said MPLT has “consistently requested” from DPL financial disclosures, with requests dating back to the time of former DPL secretary John Del Rosario.

DPL remitted to MPLT $1.25 million on Sept. 24, 2007, and $1 million in November 2011 but both remittances were unsupported by any financial report or information.

MPLT, Deleon Guerrero said, believes that DPL continues to hold on to “several millions of dollars” in excess of their appropriated money from the Legislature in its operation fund, which the trustees said is “illegal and incorrect.”

Deleon Guerrero said that several government agencies have approached MPLT “for investment on reasonable rates of return.” In 2008, MPLT loaned CUC $3.5 million to fund the Aggreko generators. It also gave a $4 million loan to the central government to pay for its utilities.

At present, House Bill 17-278 seeks to pledge to the Commonwealth Health Center MPLT’s interest income funds amounting to $11.58 million.

But Deleon Guerrero said MPLT is almost at the limit of its allocation for diversified local investments, making it difficult for the agency to fund all requests made to them, thus the need to direct DPL to remit all public land lease funds.

By doing so, Deleon Guerrero said that MPLT can invest these funds and in turn generate more income to increase the amount they remit to the central government. By law, MPLT is mandated to remit to the CNMI government’s general fund the interest income it receives from public land lease money investments.

With DPL’s “wrongful misappropriation of funds,” Deleon Guerrero said that MPLT “cannot consider further investments in the absence of additional income to grow the MPLT fund for the benefit of the general fund.”

“The trustees urge you to give this demand letter your immediate and serious attention. Regrettably the trustees are compelled to approach you and DPL in this fashion as nothing short of a clear and unequivocal assertion of statutory and constitutional obligations mandate DPL’s immediate compliance,” Deleon Guerrero concluded.