By: Olkeriil Eoghan Ngirudelsang
(Koror, Palau) Interim Special Prosecutor Tamara Hutzler reported receiving 12 new complaints, including one just yesterday, during a phone interview. Hutzler inherited over a hundred cases from the previous special prosecutor. She has closed 46 cases, leaving 80 still open.
Four cases involving alleged embezzlement and mismanagement of COVID-19 assistance funds administered through the Workforce Innovations and Opportunity Act (WIOA) have gone to litigation. Hutzler expects court rulings on these cases this week.
Among these four cases, one has resulted in a guilty plea awaiting sentencing, another is deferred for prosecution, and the remaining two are headed for appeals. As part of their defense, these cases are questioning the constitutionality of the interim special prosecutor’s office. “They are arguing that the office of the interim special prosecutor is unconstitutional,” said Hutzler. The office is awaiting a court ruling on this legal issue before proceeding with the remaining cases.
Meanwhile, the three investigators in the ISP office continue to probe other cases. Hutzler, who is the only legal officer in the office following the resignation of Assistant Special Prosecutor Inia Rakaria Tikomaimaleya on June 15, spoke to Island Times about the staffing challenges. Hutzler, who served as assistant attorney general from 2011 to 2013, assumed her current role on April 4, following an eight-month vacancy after the contract of former Special Prosecutor April Dawn Cripps ended on August 6 last year.