by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The financial problems for the island's largest employer of individuals with disabilities just keep mounting. Today marked yet another payless payday for the 200+ employees of the company and now a bank they borrowed from is in court trying to get its money back.

208 employees of Able Industries went to work today expecting to be paid. Instead it was a repeat of two weeks ago, another payless payday and no assurances of when they'd get their hard earned money. KUAM News visited the Tamuning offices today in search of CEO and president Joaquin Leon Guerrero and board chair Elmore Cotton, but both were not in the office. (Cotton, we're told, is currently off-island.)

Employees - who declined to appear on-camera for fear of being terminated - said they were told that the Department of Labor is holding able industries' money, which is why they aren't being paid. The agency isn't commenting as they still have an ongoing investigation into Able's payroll.

An audit of the company's 2010 payroll records showed that Able failed to pay close to $600,000 in health and welfare benefits to its employees. In response, Cotton told KUAM News that the company had resolved the outstanding issue with the Department of Labor.

But Leon Guerrero has asked Superior Court Judge Vern Perez to release $800,000 that is being held in a pending civil suit filed against able by former board of trustee Matao "Eddie" Yokeno. Yokeno contends he is still a member of the board but was improperly removed.

That $800,000, Leon Guerrero argued, needed to be released so that Able could pay the DOL judgment in order to continue doing work on various federal contracts. But First Hawaiian Bank has stepped-in, asking the court to intervene in the matter.

FHB, through its attorney, Richard Johnson, contends it is owed in excess of $497,000 from a loan and credit agreement Leon Guerrero signed for Able back in August 2009. According to court documents, the bank originally loaned Able $150,000 but two months later, that amount was increased to a half-million dollars. The loan agreement was extended several times and the amount was supposed to be paid off almost one month ago. Instead, Able owes more than $497,000 and interest that is accruing at $79 a day.

Judge Perez is expected to hear FHB's motion next week on November 10. Like the bank, Able employees continue to wait for their money while management remains silent about the reasons for the payless payday and the financial viability of the company.