Clarence Sriderio Rengulbai, Chairman of Aimeliik State Public Land Authority, denied he leased Aimeliik Public Land to a foreign national without Aimeliik State Public Land Authority Board’s approval but provided to Island Times a copy of the cashier’s check he issued to Geggie Asanuma for $100,000 USD as proof, he said, that Trei Clan made the lease, and not him.
In response to the article in Island Times’ August 11 issue that reported he used his position as Chairman of Aimeliik State Public Land Authority (AIMSPLA) to issue a land lease to a foreign national without the AIMSPLA Board approval in exchange for $126,350 dollars, Mr. Rengulbai delivered a copy of a cashier’s check he purchased at Bank of Hawaii on September 23, 2022 for $100,000, allegedly to pay Geggie Asanuma, one of the three claimants to Trei Clan of Imul hamlet, Aimeliik.
He claims the cashier’s check that he purchased was proof that the Trei clan made the lease.
The copy of a cashier’s check (copy on page 11) for $100,000 USD was purchased by both Clarence Sriderio Rengulbai and Geggie Asanuma and issued to Geggie Asanuma on September 23, 2022. (The copy has erasures and markings that may be alterations to the original words on the check.) Sriderio Rengulbai asserted the payment supported the claim that the Trei clan leased the land for $100,000, not him.
Contrary to his claims, the recorded lease contract in Book No. AB28, page 70, No. 22-1169 at Palau Supreme Court, showed him as the Lessor on behalf of Aimeliik State Public Land Authority. Minutes of the AIMSPLA Board of Trustees from August to December of 2022 do not show any action from the Board authorizing Chairman Sriderio Rengublai to lease Aimeliik State Public Land out, receive payment for the lease, and personally issue payment on behalf of AIMSPLA.
The record also shows that Sriderio Rengulbai received the payment of $126,350 on September 23, 2022, and the Clerk of Courts notarized the receipt issued. The receipt provided by Mr. Rengulbai of payment to Geggie Asanuma raised a question of where the rest of the money went, the $26,350 from the $126,350 payment.
Records also reveal that after leasing out the land on September 23, 2022, Sriderio Rengulbai, as Chairman of AIMSPLA, signed a warranty deed transferring the same land shown as Cadastral Lot No. 068 M 01 to Trei Clan, claiming it was free and clear of all encumbrances. This warranty deed was signed and recorded on October 13, 2022, a month after it has been leased out.
Moreover, there is a pending case before the court with three claimants to the Trei clan, and Geggie Asanuma is but one of the claimants. AIMSPLA Board, including its Chairman C. Sriderio Rengulbai, were informed of this case by their attorney based on the minutes of September 8, 2022 meeting of the AIMSPLA Board of Trustees.
The attorney for one of the claimants says he will sue Aimeliik State Public Land Authority for illegal acts depriving his clients of their rightful properties.
Mr. Sriderio Rengulbai , in his statement to Tia Belau Newspaper denies the allegations and threatens to sue Aimeliik State Legislature for its resolution and this publication for report.
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