F. Matthew Smith This is Me

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1. 1. Saipan Tribune

   www.saipantribune.com/newsstor - [Cached]

   Last Visited: 3/13/2004

   Besides the Demapans, CDA's lawyer, F. Matthew Smith, also impleaded Pacific Amusement Inc. in the lawsuit because the company might have an interest in at least one of the mortgaged properties. The CDA asserted superior interest over the properties mortgaged to them.
   
   The Demapans first acquired a loan from the CDA on Sept. 30, 1982, Smith said. The loan amounted to $193,757.33.
   
   Smith said the Demapans acquired two other sets of loans in 1984 and 1985 in the amounts of $15,000 and $25,000, respectively. He said the CDA also guaranteed a $20,000-bank loan by the Demapans.
   
   In 1986, the Demapans consolidated the loans and guaranty to become $285,631.51, Smith said. He said the consolidated loans were revised several times. The consolidated loan amounted to $277,848.89 in the fifth revision.
   
   Smith said the Demapans defaulted on the loans because of their failure to make monthly payments and to abide by the terms.
   
   As of Feb. 12, 2004, he said the Demapans' indebtedness to the CDA already reached $369,579.57, inclusive of interests.

2. 2. Saipan Tribune

   www.saipantribune.com/newsstor - [Cached]

   Last Visited: 6/9/2005

   Smith: It's not receiver's fault
   ...
   F. Matthew Smith, attorney for CDA, reported yesterday that the court has yet to appoint a judge to handle the case, which was originally handled by presiding judge Robert Naraja.
   ...
   Once a judge is appointed, the receiver can make his report and those parties that are owed money by [Pacific Gardenia owner and former general manager] Ron Sablan and his former employees can make their claims and the receiver can react accordingly," Smith said.
   
   He added that Palacios himself could not receive compensation until a judge was appointed.
   
   "Until then, it is unfair to criticize a receiver who is only doing what he has been instructed by the court to do-preserve Pacific Gardenia," he said.
   
   Smith further maintained that the payment of back wages allegedly owed the former hotel employees was not the problem of the hotel's new receiver, but of Sablan.
   
   "It is not the receiver's responsibility to pay old back wages that cannot be verified and that were not accrued under his watch," Smith said. "The fact is that since the receiver took over, Pacific Gardenia employees are finally getting regular pay checks."
   
   He noted that Sablan negotiated the back wages with the Department of Labor and the involved workers without court approval and without guaranty that the amounts negotiated were accurate or in order.
   
   "This is a Ron Sablan problem and not a receiver problem," said Smith.
   
   Eleven former Pacific Gardenia workers have written the Department of Labor demanding payment of their wage claims totaling $19,035.54.
   
   The workers-each owed between $574.23 and $3,415.82-said Palacios was ignoring their demand, even as he was hiring new employees.
   
   But Palacios said he could not pay the workers because "my hands are tied." He explained that the time cards and other documents supporting the workers' claims for back wages-all of which were accumulated under Sablan's management-could not be located.
   
   Palacios also said as a court-appointed receiver, he needed instruction from a judge before he could act on the workers' demand.

3. 3. Saipan Tribune

   www.saipantribune.com/newsstor - [Cached]

   Last Visited: 6/28/2005

   The amount, though, has already ballooned to $512,316.86 as of June 2 due to accrued interests and penalty charges, according to CDA attorney F. Matthew Smith.
   
   The CDA wants the court to compel the former governor and his wife to settle their obligation.
   
   Should the DeLeon Guerreros fail to pay the CDA once judgment is handed down in favor of the agency, the court should order the foreclosure of real property mortgage that the defendants had executed to secure the loans, Smith said. The mortgage involves a 20,000-sqm lot in As Lito.
   
   Smith also asked the court to seize several properties that the DeLeon Guerreros have used as security, including fishing equipment, boat, supplies, cargo van and certain inventories.
   
   The complaint alleged that the former governor and his wife first acquired a $200,000-loan from the CDA on June 5, 1995. Besides mortgaging the properties, the DeLeon Guerreros also offered a 4,961-sqm lot as security.
   
   On March 13, 1996, the couple acquired a separate $150,000-loan from the CDA, using the same properties as collateral. The parties agreed to consolidate the first and second loans for a new principal amount of $364,654.32 on Oct. 30, 1997.
   
   Smith said the DeLeon Guerreros requested the CDA to revise the consolidated loans for a new principal amount of $378,594.05 on Sept. 30, 1998.
   
   The consolidated loans went through a second revision on March 6, 2001, pegging the new principal amount at $417,814.86. In exchange for the release of prior mortgages, including that on the 4.961-sqm lot, the DeLeon Guerreros mortgaged a 20,000-sqm As Lito land.
   
   The CDA served the former governor and his wife with notices of default on Aug. 17, 2004, after which they continued to fail to make any payment, according to Smith.