Guam - Seven Port Authority of Guam employees who were terminated from the agency are accused of playing different roles in an alleged scheme to give former Port marketing administrator Bernadette Stern Meno what Port management has alleged was unauthorized leave and nearly $100,000 in benefits. The investigation by the agency's legal counsel uncovered what they claim is more proof of fraud, backdating, and conspiracy.

All seven employees who were fired from their jobs contend they had nothing to do with any conspiracy or anything criminal, as their appeals play out in the Civil Service Commission the paper trail shows an alleged scheme to defraud the government and an alleged cover-up when the Port board began their probe. Seven Port workers are fighting to get their jobs back but management contends termination was in the best interest of the Government of Guam to protect from future theft of time, money and resources. 

Meno's alleged slip and fall back in September 2011 wasn't originally an issue for the agency because she had refused to get medical treatment at the hospital.

But ten months later Meno wrote a letter to the Port's safety officer, Frank Roberto, asking for a referral to an off-island surgeon alleging that pain in her back was a result of the slip and fall.

In that Memo she admitted to refusing to go to the Guam Memorial Hospital claiming harassment from her immediate supervisor and records reflect that she went to American Medical Center in August of last year - eleven months after the alleged slip and fall where she received a four-month doctor's excuse from Dr. Vince Akimoto that indicated "medical illness" to excuse her from work.

Through the course of an investigation, the same form appeared in the file but this time with GMH written in over American Medical Center.

The Port acted on her request and one year after the incident, Port management approved the payment of $66,000 for medical treatment and more than ten grand for Meno and an escort's travel and per diem for a 15-day trip to Hawaii.

The surgery was cancelled when Adelup and the port board stepped in and began looking into Meno's claim.  That's when the agency's legal counsel began uncovering some questionable actions that eventually led to Meno's termination, the firing of six of her co-workers and the dismissal of the Port's general manager.

Based on documents filed with the Civil Service Commission, former Port controller Jose Guevara was fired because he allegedly "voluntarily misrepresented to the Port board that the funds he had certified was lawfully available, when he knew that not to be the case".  In fact, he maintained that there had been no unauthorized expenditure because funds he had certified were tucked away in one account or another.

During an October 25 board meeting, Port managers were asked to point to the course of Meno's nearly $100,000 in benefits and Guevara allegedly "lied in order to further the conspiracy to cover up the illegal spending".  It's alleged that in December he tried to explain the breakdown of the budget to Port GM Joanne Brown, but she did not agree.

We should note that documents filed in Guevara's case indicate that former Port GM Mary Torres was terminated "in part due to her own misrepresentations related to the same set of incidents."

Torres has come out publicly saying her dismissal and the terminations were a result of a politically-motivated investigation. She even filed an ethics complaint against the Port's attorneys, claiming they misrepresented themselves to Port workers and may have threatened employees to lie and made threats for refusing to do so.

In a December 19, 2012 letter to the Port board chairman, Torres responded to the allegations of misconduct made against her by the Port's legal counsel.

She states she was unaware until October 16 - the date she and others signed-off on the travel authorizations for Meno and her escort - that the port marketing manager had even requested to travel to Hawaii for medical treatment related to a worker compensation injury.

The Port's legal counsel, however, argues that an August 11 e-mail message from Meno to Torres and corporate services manager Vivian Leon reveals that Meno had disclosed that she met with Dr. Stephen Hayashida and he was recommending surgery in Hawaii.

Torres however states that at that time she had no knowledge that the surgery was related to Meno's alleged slip and fall at the Port eleven months prior before Torres became the general manager.

Torres explains that when the documents came across her desk, she called in the Port's safety officer, Frank Roberto, asking him to explain the process.

She goes on to say that Roberto told her that the Worker's Compensation Commission had authorized the surgery and approved the travel and the agency would be picking up the tab because it did not have workers compensation insurance.

That day she and Guevara signed-off on a memo that originally authorized a little over $4,000 to pay for the airfare and per diem for Meno and her escort. The two also signed-off on a travel request and authorization that gave Meno 300% more per diem and increased her travel expenses to more than $7,000 and her escort another $4,000.

Torres states she relied on the information from Roberto and other managers who signed-off before her to approve the trip.

She claims it wasn't until October 19 when she met with another port staffer, Miami Ulbenario, that she became aware of some concerns related to the claim. Ulbenario refused to issue the per diem checks because she believed the expenditure was invalid because there wasn't a valid Worker's Compensation Commission claim.

When Torres asked why, Ulbenario said there was not a direct voucher payment form from the WCC, which Torres says contradicted what she had been told by Roberto.

The GM at the time also indicated that she had concerns that Roberto's file on Meno's workers compensation claim was incomplete and missing documents.

As we reported, the legal counsel's report to the board indicated that Meno was never entitled to receive fully paid work injury leave because the Worker's Compensation Commission didn't authorize and was not even informed that the port was compensating her claim and never certified her injury.

Torres eventually asked the board to reject the legal counsel's findings and clear her name of any hint of misconduct.  She also expressed concerns about the terminations questioning the motivation behind them and the entire investigation.

Personnel specialist Frances Arriola is also accused of making changes to Port documents.

In fact, management alleges that it was her memo that changed Meno's trip, extending it from ten to fifteen days and giving her triple the per diem that she was entitled to and indicating that she had been directed by the Port's safety officer to do so.

As we reported, Torres and Guevara initially approved the payment of an estimated $4,100 to pay for the airfare and per diem of Meno and her escort, but that figure ballooned in October of last year to more than $10,000.  Through the course of the investigation, Arriola said she was instructed by Roberto to add the additional days for Meno.

Arriola's supervisor, Francine Rocio (who was also terminated), claimed to have no idea why Arriola changed the per diem or the itinerary until November 14, but management has a signed affidavit from another Port employee, Carmelita Nededog, who claims she witnessed Rocio and Arriola discussing the matter.

Nededog claims that when Rocio returned from off-island, she overheard Arriola telling Rocio that Roberto denied telling her to lengthen Meno's stay in Hawaii and something about Roberto "taking the fall". Nededog claims she heard Rocio telling Arriola to backdate a memo to file representing that Roberto instructed her to increase the length of stay.

In her response to management, Arriola stated that the 300% increase in per diem was "an oversight" on her part as she did not clearly read Roberto's memo indicating the proper amount of per diem for Meno and her escort.

Thursday KUAM News will continue our special look into the investigation at the Port Authority of Guam with more details of the alleged cover-up by other terminated employees.

We should note that based on the documents we've reviewed that were filed at the Civil Service Commission, all of these documents have been turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Attorney General's Office in cooperation of ongoing federal and local investigations.