Former Guam Sen. Carmen Fernandez owns company raided by FBI
Updated: Nov 26, 2019
By Johnnie Rosario
(Tumon, Guam) Former Guam Senator Carmen Fernandez is the sole member of the company Imperial Pacific International in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The company's offices were raided Thursday in tandem with Federal Bureau of Investigation raids at the CNMI Office of the Governor, Torres Brothers LLC (CNMI Gov. Ralph Torres's family's company), and other reported locations throughout Saipan.
IPI operates Saipan's casinos. Ms. Fernandez is listed as the sole owner in a tax lien issued by the Internal Revenue Service in the U.S. District Court of the NMI on April 25, 2019.
Included in the raid of IPI's offices is another former Guam public official - IPI general counsel Phil Tydingco, the former chief prosecutor at the Guam Office of the Attorney General. Mr. Tydingco also is the younger brother of Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood of the District Court of Guam. GTA executive vice president Daniel J. Tydingco is his younger sister, and is rumored to be a cast member in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
Ms. Fernandez was elected to the Guam Legislature and served one term. She was the subject of immediate controversy, after spending tens of thousands in taxpayer money at the start of her term decorating her new office with lavish furniture. Prior to her stint in the legislature, Ms. Fernandez was the vice president of administration and finance at the University of Guam. Her doctoral degree also was the subject of public scrutiny over the manner in which she received the degree.
