|
Lobbyist firm wasn’t incorporated until the day GEDCA contract was signed
|
by Ken Wetmore, KUAM News
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
|
"The fact that this was the conduit to access these people in Washington, to me…you know, is secondary. Who is acting doing the work in Washington D.C.? That's what matters to me."
Gerry Perez
Acting Executive Director, Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority
|
If you want to visit The Washington Group's corporate office, your trip won't
take you to Washington D.C. - it'll take you to 790 South Marine Drive, in
Tamuning.
It turns out that the firm the Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority
has referred to as ‘The Washington Group’ is officially named ‘The Washington
Pacific Economic Development Group, Inc.’. When KUAM News pulled the company’s
business license, we made several interesting discoveries.
First, we learned that The Washington Pacific Development Group wasn't
incorporated until the day it signed the contract with GEDCA.
While Juan Carlos Benitez, who has been described by GEDCA as heading The
Washington Group, is the president, we saw two names we'd never heard connected
with the lobbyist firm before - business partners and accountants Keith Nakamura
and Roger Slater.
We went to Nakamura’s and Slater's office to find out why two Guam accountants
are the secretary and treasurer, respectively of a lobbying group in the
nation’s capitol. Neither of the men was in, but we were able to speak with them
over the phone. Nakamura told us Benitez needed a local partner in order to
incorporate on Guam, and it was through a family friend that the contact with
his accounting firm was made.
In a separate phone call, his partner, Slater told us that it's common practice
for their firm to help businesses incorporate on Guam by acting as shareholders
in the company. He says they represent over 500 companies in such a capacity and
says their role is minor. In this case, Slater and Nakamura only have two shares
in the company with Benitez holding the remaining 4,998.
Still, no one else is listed as shareholders or officers in the company. GEDCA
Acting Executive Director Gerry Perez says that not a problem. He notes that
Benitez contracts out responsibilities to other lobbyists in Washington, saying,
“The Roy Coffees, the Leo Giacomettes, these are the guys who are on the ground
doing stuff for me. It's not the Roger Slaters here. The fact that this was the
conduit to access these people in Washington, to me…you know, is secondary. Who
is acting doing the work in Washington D.C.? That's what matters to me.”
Speaker Ben Pangelinan has been critical of GEDCA's decision to enter into a
contract with The Washington Group from the start. When we told the Speaker
about what we had found, he said it makes him question the deal even more. “I'm
not sure why we didn't go directly to the principles in Washington,” he said.
“That will be doing the lobbying themselves because the way it’s looking like is
the local Washington Group will hire and subcontract out all the work in
Washington for the lobbying effort. You know, it seems we're just passing money
from one hand to the other”.
Another interesting fact is that Slater filed a complaint against Democratic
gubernatorial candidate Robert Underwood before the Decision 2002 Primary
Election, alleging he sent campaign material using his Congressional mailing
privilege. Underwood admitted a mistake had been made, paid the postage and was
cleared by a Congressional committee.
Speaker Pangelinan says it was lobbyist Jack Abramoff's firm that prepared the
documents for Slater to sign to file the complaint. Slater told us today he was
approached by an individual (whose name he declined to specify) and filed the
complaint because the Congressman had refused to place his son at the Naval
Academy. The reason this all matters is because senators hinted in a public
hearing where GEDCA was present that the hiring of The Washington Group was
political payback.
When KUAM News spoke with senators from both sides of the aisle this afternoon,
the general consensus was that the deal seems even stranger. Perez says the
Governor and Lieutenant Governor asked him to consider The Washington Group, but
he made the final decision and there is no political payback. Said Perez, “The
underlying stories that you're bringing up to me…I know nothing about. I was
asked to consider this group. I considered it. I made my own decision. I wasn't
told to hire them.”
KUAM News requested on-camera interviews with both Slater and Nakamura, however,
they declined saying they had to speak with their client first.
You may recall Jack Abramoff's name from the stories KUAM News reported on last
year. He's one of the nation's top lobbyists, and was paid in excess of $400,000
by the Superior Court in 2002.
As we reported, the Court was fighting to have house resolution 521 killed, so
that the Supreme Court would not have control over the island's Judiciary. Also,
Superior Court Administrator Tony Sanchez initially wasn't forthcoming with the
information on how much was paid to Abramoff, until KUAM News presented him with
the dated checks that he signed off on.
The Superior Court hired California-based attorney Howard Hills, who in turn
hired Abramoff, to lobby against the measure that was never voted on. Today KUAM
News reviewed the U.S. Senate's lobbying and registration Web site, and found
that Hills paid the lobbyist an additional $150,000 for his services at the end
of last year.
Of note is that Sanchez was actively involved in the Camacho-Moylan campaign. We
should also point out that Abramoff is also well-known for his lobbying efforts
for a number of large Native American tribes, who were fighting for casino
gambling on their reservations.
In the meantime, GEDCA Administrator Perez denies that Abramoff is involved with
The Washington Group.
KUAM’s Mindy Fothergill contributed to this report
|