SAIPAN, M.P., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Micronesia Development Association ("UMDA") announced today that a multi-million dollar settlement has been reached with Robert Pfaff in a civil suit in Superior Court of the CNMI relating to harm done to UMDA by Pfaff and other former company insiders during a ten year period that ended in 2002.
Under the terms of the settlement, Pfaff and related co-defendants, including GET Realty Trust, have forfeited to UMDA their claim on a share of the proceeds of the sale of the LaoLao golf property - a share worth approximately $2,842,000.
UMDA's Chairman of the Board and acting President Joe Lifoifoi commented: "This is a great day for the shareholders of UMDA. Thanks to prompt action on the part of UMDA management and legal counsel, we were able to prevent Mr. Pfaff and his associates from absconding with $6 million of UMDA's money in April of 2007, and today we can say that over the course of this litigation we have returned more than half of it to where it rightly belongs. We will now turn our attention to recovering the remainder of the money from Mr. Pfaff's cronies, both of whom are also convicted criminals."
UMDA had obtained a preliminary injunction from the Court in November of 2007 to prevent Pfaff and his co-defendants from removing some $6 million in proceeds from the sale of the LaoLao golf property that rightly belonged to UMDA. The money coming to UMDA in the recent settlement is part of this $6 million fund that has been under the Court's stewardship for the last two years. UMDA will continue to press its claims against the other defendants in the civil suit, including convicted criminals John Larson and David Amir Makov and their offshore companies, with trial likely to be scheduled for sometime next year.
Pfaff pled guilty to criminal charges in federal court in New York last month in a case called U.S. v. Pfaff that focused on his activities as a director of UMDA during a period that ended in 2002. Earlier this year, Pfaff was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison and fined $3 million for his role in defrauding the United States through the creation of fraudulent tax shelters in U.S. v Stein. CNMI Governor Ben Fitial issued an Executive Order Proclamation on October 14, 2009 expressing the gratitude of the people of the CNMI to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District for its efforts in obtaining a conviction in U.S. v Stein and a guilty plea in U.S. v. Pfaff.
About UMDA
UMDA was founded in 1966 in Saipan. Over the years, UMDA has been involved in a wide range of businesses, including airlines, cable systems, shipping, and resort properties. UMDA's shareholders include the government or governmental entities of the CNMI, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and thousands of individual Micronesians and their families. In December 2007 UMDA announced the purchase from JAL Group of a 313-room luxury hotel in Saipan, now called Palms Resort Saipan.
United Micronesia Development Association
