Adelup: no settlement offered in tax case

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The Governor's Office wants to clear the record: they never made any promises to settle a tax liability case with Dennis and Asuncion Rodriguez.  The couple allegedly failed to pay more than $970,000 in taxes over a five-year period.  The government was pursuing $1.7 million in taxes and penalties. 

The court had ordered the parties to enter into settlement discussions but the Attorney General's Office withdrew from the case, saying they disagreed with a proposed settlement that would have only been a fraction of the tax debt.  But governor's senior legal advisor Arthur Clark says that wasn't the case. "We've never, we've never made an offer of any number whatsoever. It was always conditioned on after we've confirmed (Rodriguez's) representations, your net worth, then we will follow the procedures and determine what settlement number might be appropriate," he explained.

Clark says the Governor's Office had suggested the Rodriguez couple pay for an independent investigator to do a global asset search to determine their true net worth and what they could pay.  He says the AG's Office refused to do that and also could not pursue a criminal case against the couple because the government failed to file action before the statute of limitations expired. 

A law firm has been hired to handle the case and pick up negotiations.