Federal Investigation Of Abramoff's Dealings With CNMI Heats Up

As Fired Up! reported on December 8, 2005, it appears that the federal investigation into Jack Abramoff's activities has zeroed in on the CNMI.

A news report in the The Standard, China's business newspaper reveals:

US government investigators probing Washington's explosive Congressional bribery scandal centered on disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff recently visited Hong Kong, according to a witness interviewed by the authorities.

The investigators reportedly are chasing convoluted money trails leading to Abramoff and government officials he sought to influence.

Among the likely subjects of interest here is a previously unknown company called Rose Garden Holdings. In May 2002, Abramoff notified the US Senate that Rose Garden had hired him and Greenberg Traurig, his firm at the time, to represent Rose Garden's "interests before federal agencies and [the] US Congress."

These companies have ties to the Tan family of the CNMI.

Hong Kong's Companies Registry has no record of Rose Garden Holdings; nor does the telephone directory. The apartment listed by Abramoff as Rose Garden's premises has been owned since 1992 by Luen Thai Shipping and Trading, according to the Land Registry.

Luen Thai Holdings and its controlling shareholders, the Tan family, were leading beneficiaries of Abramoff's Washington lobbying.

Luen Thai officials and spokesmen referred queries about Abramoff and Rose Garden to chief executive Henry Tan, but Tan declined through his secretary to be interviewed, citing his travel schedule.

Tan Holdings has been quite generous to causes supported by Rep. Tom DeLay:

According to an investigation published by The Washington Post three weeks ago, records obtained by the newspaper reveal that Saipan garment makers, including Tan, contributed US$500,000 to an organization called the US Family Network between 1996 and 2001. Much of the organization's funding was spent supporting other groups linked to Abramoff or indicted Congressman Tom DeLay.

A series of e-mail messages between Abramoff and Willie Tan, Henry's brother who heads up the family's ventures on site in Saipan, recently obtained by Washington journalist Joshua Micah Marshall, appear to show another financial link. According to a copy posted on Marshall's Web site, Abramoff billed Tan US$223,679 in 2000 toward the annual rental of skyboxes in three Washington-area stadiums and arenas.

Abramoff made frequent use of the skyboxes to entertain congressmen. The e-mails indicate receipt of a first quarterly payment of US$55,919.75 and show Tan directing a company finance executive to make the second quarterly payment.

As Fired Up! reported on December 8, 2005, the Tans also have ties to Rep. Roy  Blunt:

Tan Holdings, has a wide array of businesses on the CNMI, including garment manufacturing facilities that operate as sweatshops. Concorde Garment Manufacturing is one of those facilities.

In March of 2000, 8 major U.S. retailers settled a class action lawsuit for $6.5 million for working conditions in CNMI manufacturing facilities, including those of Concorde Garment Manufacturing. (New York Times, 8 Retailers Settle Suit, March 29, 2000)

In April of 2000, Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-K Street) accepted a $3,000 contribution from Concorde Garment Manufacturing into his Rely On Your Beliefs Fund (ROYB).  In the same reporting period, the ROYB Fund also received a massive $100,000 contribution from DeLay's ARMPAC Convention and an additional $3,000 from as member of the Franco family, another Abramoff's clients, who advocated statehood for Puerto Rico.

Hat Tip: The Stakeholder