Overview:
FSM Independent Prosecutor Launches Investigation Amid Funding Deadlock
PALIKIR — More than two years after voters approved the Office of the Independent Prosecutor (OIP), the agency remains nonoperational due to a funding impasse. Independent Prosecutor Lucas M. Cupps has opened a criminal investigation into President Wesley Simina and Finance Secretary Rose Nakanaga for allegedly delaying the release of $500,000 allocated by Congress. With no staff and no salary, Cupps is conducting the probe remotely from Kansas, highlighting growing tensions over FSM’s newest anti-corruption body.
PALIKIR, 19 JANUARY 2026 (PACIFIC ISLAND TIMES) — It has been more than two years since the Federated States of Micronesia created the Office of the Independent Prosecutor through a constitutional amendment, but the agency has not been formally established because the funds required to get started are in limbo, according to FSM Independent Prosecutor Lucas M. Cupps.
Cupps said he is in a quandary after opening a criminal investigation into President Wesley W. Simina and Finance and Administration Secretary Rose N. Nakanaga for allegedly refusing to transfer funds appropriated by Congress for the OIP.
“Until the funds are released, I have no choice but to handle the investigation myself. That is the irony of the situation: I cannot hire anyone to assist me until I have control of the OIP funds,” he said.
The investigation is a preliminary step that will determine if criminal charges are warranted.
The FSM Congress has allocated an initial budget of $500,000 for operating expenses and Cupps’ relocation costs.
Cupps said he has not been paid his salary since he took his oath of office on Dec. 1, 2025. He is currently in Kansas, working remotely. “It is the only way that I am able to participate,” he said, adding that he has no plans to fly to FSM until his office’s allocation is released.
The investigation marks the first official action taken by Cupps since assuming the post.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the Office of the President said Simina and Nakanaga “will cooperate fully with any lawful processes and are confident that the facts will demonstrate that their actions were lawful, responsible and undertaken in fulfillment of their constitutional and statutory duties.”
“The executive branch has acted in good faith to reconcile two equally important obligations: respecting the constitutional independence of the Office of the Independent Prosecutor while complying with laws governing the custody, obligation, and disbursement of public funds.
Cupps said he would not use personal money to pay for an expensive flight that may or may not be reimbursed.
“Until I have control of the OIP funds, I do not believe it is safe for me to be physically present in the FSM,” he added. Cupps did not elaborate.
The Office of the President said that, initially, it was not inclined to issue a public statement.
“However, Mr Cupps’ decision to place these issues in the court of public opinion has compelled a response,” the president’s office said.
“Given the importance andconstitutional stature of the Office of the Independent Prosecutor, particularly as a newly established institution, it is regrettable that these pending legal and administrative questions have not been addressed through the established legal and constitutional process designed to resolve them,” the statement added.
Cupps said his investigation may take three to six months, depending on the level of cooperation from the FSM Department of Justice. “For example, if DOJ agrees to accept service of subpoenas electronically, that will expedite matters,” he added.
“I would hope that FSM Congress members would be willing to speak with the OIP without a subpoena being issued,” he said.
In July 2023, the FSM voters passed a constitutional amendment in July 2023 to create the OIP to investigate and prosecute corruption, misuse of public funds and illegal acts by high-level officials.
In May 2025, Simina nominated Cupps to become the independent prosecutor. Cupps was confirmed in September 2025.
“As this timeline demonstrates, the president and secretary had ample time to prepare to release these funds if, in fact, they wished to do so,” Cupps said. “In short, the people of the FSM have been waiting for 2.5 years for the OIP to begin operating.”
Cupps said he first asked Nakanaga for the OIP funds via email on 17 November 2025, but nothing came of it.
He said he had limited success in getting Executive Branch officials to respond to his emails “until I began to threaten prosecutions” for criminal obstruction.
In December, the FSM Congress held two public hearings on the matter, but the year ended with no funding in sight.
Cupps said the 72-hour deadline to turn over the funds at the start of this month had come and gone.
“Ultimately, the president blamed Congress for the situation, saying a law that Congress had passed had tied the president’s hands. From a legal standpoint, this is utterly false. From a political standpoint, I believe it did not sit well with Congress,” Cupps said.
The FSM Congress is considering three separate bills to force the transfer of OIP funds to OIP.
In a press statement last year, Congress described Cupps as an accomplished legal professional with deep ties to Micronesia. “He is a Yale Law School graduate who brings extensive and diverse legal experience,” Congress said in a statement last year.
Cupps has served as a public defender, legal writing professor, international enforcement advisor, and staff attorney for the FSM Congress. For the past decade, he has practiced law in the FSM, representing clients across all four states…. PACNEWS