$257 Million Vanished in the CNMI – And Delegate King-Hinds Still Says “Federal Intervention Is Not the Answer”

The Greatest Federal Fraud in American History – Per Capita Division

(Expanded Edition – Now With 100% More Existential Dread, Receipts, and a Freshly Updated Fraud Leaderboard Because 2025 Keeps Delivering the Hits)

Chapter 1: Congratulations, CNMI – You Just Beat Every State and Territory in the “Most Federal Money Vanished Per Human Head” Olympics (Now With Bonus Math That Will Ruin Your Day)

CNMI decided one lap around the grift track wasn’t enough – they went for the victory lap while chugging a $257 million margarita. And just when you thought the hangover couldn’t get worse, the feds keep uncovering more skeletons in the mainland’s closet, making the CNMI’s per-capita score look even more like a bad acid trip.

Confirmed questioned costs from the FY2022 Single Audit (finally released October 15, 2025 after being years late): $257.4 million.

That’s $5,477 per resident. For perspective, if this happened in Wyoming (pop. ~580,000), it’d be $3.3 billion gone poof. But Wyoming at least has cowboys who can track cattle – not so much with missing COVID checks.

To put that in mainland terms: imagine if California (population 39 million) had $214 billion in questioned costs in a single audit. The National Guard would already be in Sacramento, and Elon would be tweeting about seceding to Mars. But in the CNMI? They held a press conference, shrugged, and said “we inherited this mess” while simultaneously implying the last guys did it – which is true, but you’ve had three years, folks.

Three years to find the receipts, or at least print some fakes that look convincing.

The audit wasn’t just bad. Ernst & Young issued a disclaimed opinion – the accounting equivalent of a doctor writing “patient is on fire” on the chart and walking away.

Pacific Island Times (the one outlet that still has a pulse) reported on October 21, 2025 that the Public Auditor stated criminal charges may be forthcoming against officials for misuse of COVID funds.

Marianas Variety’s headline? Something like “Audit Released, Governor Promises Transparency.”

Translation: “Please don’t look too closely, we’re very busy planning the next cultural festival – and by cultural, we mean culturally appropriating federal dollars.”

Per capita, the CNMI didn’t just win gold – they melted down the podium, pawned it for casino chips, and lost those too.

WTH were they thinking?

That the GAO would just send more money with a note saying “try harder next time”?

Chapter 2: A Brief History of “Oops, Where Did the Money Go?” in the CNMI (Now With Actual Timelines So You Can’t Say Nobody Warned You)

1976: Covenant signed. America promises protection and money. CNMI promises self-government and fiscal responsibility.

Narrator voice: They did not, in fact, deliver on that second part. It was like promising to pay rent and then turning the house into a floating casino.

1980s–2000s: Garment factory era. Tom DeLay calls Saipan “a perfect Petri dish of capitalism.” Turns out the Petri dish had forced abortions, indentured servitude, locked fire exits, and Jack Abramoff’s frequent flyer miles. Billions in federal aid funneled through loopholes wider than the Mariana Trench.

2008–2009: Federalization of immigration. Congress says “no more alien labor loophole – CW-1 visas get capped, and we’re watching.” CNMI politicians scream “states’ rights!” while simultaneously begging for federal money to build roads nobody uses. Spoiler: The caps get extended. Again. And again.

2010–2018: Birth tourism boom. Pregnant Russian oligarchs and Chinese entrepreneurs fly in, pop out a U.S. citizen, fly out. Babies get passports; CNMI gets “medical tourism revenue” and a reputation as the maternity ward of the Pacific. Federal funds? Mysteriously diverted to “hospital upgrades” that never happened.

2014–2020: Imperial Pacific International casino. Chinese “investors” promise a $7 billion Vegas-on-Saipan. Deliver one half-finished concrete skeleton, owe $61 million in taxes, $5.6 million in worker wages, and somehow lose $800 million in cash that “fell off a pallet during a typhoon.” FBI raids ensue in 2019. Casino license revoked 2021. Building still sits there like a monument to hubris, occasionally used for paintball.

WTH? A typhoon? On a pallet of cash?

That’s not weather; that’s a script from a bad heist movie.

2020–2022: COVID money arrives like manna from heaven – CARES Act, ARPA, CRF, the works. $257 million later… manna apparently grew legs, a passport, and a one-way ticket to Manila.

Whistleblowers like Zaji Zajradhara (see attached letters) scream about Stafford funds going to non-citizens and overstayers.

Crickets from the Delegate.

October 2025: Audit drops like a lead balloon. Delegate Kimberly King-Hinds posts a video:

Yes, ma’am, we do remember – the abuse stopped. Wages went up. Locals got jobs.

That was the point. But hey, who needs accountability when you can blame the previous admin in year three of the current one?

Chapter 3: The Mainland All-Stars – Major Federal Fraud Cases Over $50 Million (2020–November 2025) – Updated With 2025 Updates Because the Grift Never Sleeps

The CNMI is still undefeated per capita, but the mainland tried really hard this year – like that kid in gym class who runs the 100-meter in flip-flops while everyone else is in spikes.

IRS-CI alone has 2,039 investigations totaling $10B in attempted theft. Impressive? Sure.

But scale it to 47,000 people, and the CNMI’s $257M looks like amateur hour – except it’s not; it’s the pros.

For context, here are the heavyweight contenders the CNMI just body-slammed on a per-person basis. *** (Table updated with the latest DOJ/HHS-OIG takedowns – because nothing says “holiday spirit” like fresh indictments.)

Honorable mentions under $100M but still massive:

California couple who faked 150+ businesses for $20–$30M PPP (then fled to who-knows-where, probably with a tan and a new identity);

Florida man who bought Lambos and a yacht with PPP money (sentenced to 10 years, but the boat’s probably still floating); $50M Ponzi scheme unsealed Sept 2025 (NY, wire fraud galore); and the $50M check-washing ring busted May 2025 (organized crime vibes straight out of a Scorsese flick).

Total nationwide COVID fraud now estimated at $400 billion+ (GAO April 2025 report: "hundreds of billions lost, true scope unknowable").

Do the math. It’s obscene.

It’s like the CNMI entered the Fraud Olympics with a team of one and took home every medal while the U.S. team tripped over its own shoelaces.

WTH were they thinking?

That 47,000 people could hide a quarter-billion better than 330 million?

Chapter 4:

The Greatest Hits – Most Common Federal Charges When Uncle Sam Catches You With His Wallet (Now With Real Sentences So You Know It’s Not Funny When It’s You)

When the feds finally show up – and in 2025, they’re showing up everywhere from telehealth scams to check-washing rings – these are the charges you’ll hear. It’s like a greatest-hits album of bad decisions, remixed with 20-year sentences.

18 U.S.C. § 1343 – Wire Fraud (the GOAT – used in 90%+ of cases): Max 20–30 years if disaster funds involved. See: Feeding Our Future defendants getting 15–20 years for "meals" that never happened.

18 U.S.C. § 1341 – Mail Fraud: Same vibe, but for the old-school envelope crowd.

18 U.S.C. § 1001 – False Statements: Lying on forms? Add 5 years.

18 U.S.C. § 371 – Conspiracy (because nobody grifts alone): 5 years, but stack it with the rest.

18 U.S.C. § 1956/1957 – Money Laundering: Another 20 years, plus forfeit the Lambo.

18 U.S.C. § 641 – Theft of Government Property: Straight-up stealing Uncle Sam’s stuff.

42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b – False Claims Act (healthcare): Triple damages + $27k per fake claim.

18 U.S.C. § 1347 – Health Care Fraud: 10 years per count; see the 2025 takedown.

18 U.S.C. § 1962 – RICO (when it’s really organized): Racketeering charges for the pros.

Real cases, real time (fresh off the 2025 docket):

Florida woman – 14 years for $190M COVID healthcare fraud (telehealth ghost patients).

California couple – 12–15 years for $80M Ponzi + fake PPP businesses (fled, but got extradited).

Minnesota nonprofit exec – 18 years, $47 million restitution (phantom kids got expensive).

Houston ring leader – 15 years for $50M PPP (bought a fleet of trucks he didn’t need).

Maryland accountant – 10 years for $24M COVID loans (Sept 2025 sentencing).

Or the Tan Holdings exec accused of CW-1 ghost employees (see attached petition). Sleep well? Only if your pillow’s stuffed with laundered cash.

Chapter 5:

Why the CNMI’s Block Grant Designation Should Be Terminated Yesterday (Now With Actual Federal Precedent)

Block grants are supposed to go to governments that have demonstrated fiscal responsibility – like handing car keys to a sober driver.

The CNMI has demonstrated the opposite for four straight decades: drunk, speeding, and blasting “Highway to Hell.”

Reasons to pull the plug, expanded with 2025 receipts:

Repeated “disclaimed” or “qualified” audit opinions since the 1990s (latest: FY2022 full disclaimer).

$257M in questioned costs on a $300M annual budget = basically the entire local revenue stream vanished into “procurement weaknesses” and “sub-recipient monitoring failures.”

History of losing federal oversight → immediate return to abuse (see garment factories pre-2009, IPI casino post-2014). When DOI OIG tightened casino reins in 2020, collections improved – slightly.

Now? Back to square one.

https://www.cnmiga.org/post/broken-borders-broken-promises-the-fight-for-u-s-workers-in-america-s-pacific-frontier

Documented foreign influence (PRC-linked investors via IPI/Tan Holdings; whistleblowers allege policy control – see attached letters to Westerman/Graves).

SAME "FAMILY-BASED" CORRUPTION aka:

Federal precedent screams for action:

Puerto Rico – fiscal control board since 2016 after $70B debt.

American Samoa – heightened oversight post-audits.

Virgin Islands – repeated failures → grant freezes.

CNMI? Still getting block grants like a teenager with dad’s Amex and no curfew, even after GAO warnings since 1990s (latest: GAO-25-107560 on debt).

Delegate King-Hinds bragged in her Sept 2025 newsletter about $250k in “technical assistance” to fix audits they keep failing.

That’s like giving a pyromaniac a grant to buy better matches – and expecting the house not to burn down again. WTH?

The Covenant allows intervention; it’s past time.

Chapter 6:

Why FinCEN, IRS-CI, FBI, DIA, OFAC, and Every Three-Letter Agency With a Badge Should Take Over CNMI Federal Funds Right Now (Expanded With Actual Recommendations)

Documented issues from attached docs and open sources:

https://www.cnmiga.org/post/cnmi-delegate-elect-s-platform-under-scrutiny-an-america-first-analysis

Tan Holdings accused of systemic CW-1 fraud, ghost employees, discrimination against U.S. workers (July 2025 multi-agency petition to ACUS/DHS/DOL).

Willy Tan simultaneously running companies and advising government on “stronger economic ties with Fujian, China” (Marianas Variety, 2021 – but still relevant).

Imperial Pacific investors vanished to Cambodia post-2021 collapse (FBI probes ongoing).

Birth tourism networks quietly rebooting (whistleblower letters cite Stafford funds to “Chinese baby tourists”).

$11M CARES repayment demand (Oct 2025), part of broader $257M mess.

DIA should care: First Island Chain outpost compromised by alleged CCP puppets? That’s a Guam vulnerability waiting to happen.

FinCEN/OFAC: Follow the offshore trails (GAO-22-105271 flags workforce foreign ties).

IRS-CI: Nobody files taxes on grants since 1987.

FBI: White-Collar Task Force already sniffing (per Norita’s Oct presser).

The solution, step-by-step (because apparently they need a flowchart):

Immediate forensic audit by Treasury/OIG – trace every dollar from 2020-2025.

All federal funds on reimbursement-only basis (no more blank checks).

Federal receiver for any grant over $10M (precedent: PR control board).

Criminal referrals for every missing receipt (start with CARES).

DIA intel review of foreign investor influence (Tan Holdings, IPI ghosts).

Anything less is malpractice.

And with 2025’s mainland busts showing feds mean business, why let CNMI play catch-up alone? Take the keys, folks – before the yacht sails without you.

Chapter 7:

The CNMI Media Circus – Where “Investigative Journalism” Means Copy-Pasting the Governor’s Press Release and Calling It a Day (2025 Edition: Even Thinner Than Before)

Is it funny?

In the way a clown car full of foreign nationals on expired visas crashing into a federal courthouse while waving tiny American flags they bought at the swap meet is funny – yes.

And now, as of November 2025, the circus tent is basically empty.

Saipan Tribune? Dead. Buried. Ceased operations December 31, 2024 after 30+ years. And good riddance – because all that paper ever did was big up Chi-na.

Every casino press release from Imperial Pacific got front-page treatment like it was the Second Coming.

Every Tan Holdings ribbon-cutting was treated like the moon landing.

The Tribune died still pretending the half-built casino skeleton was “economic hope” instead of a quarter-billion-dollar crime scene.

Marianas Variety? Still limping along, somehow, printing the same government press releases in 2025 that they printed in 1995.

They’ll run a full-page ad from Tan Holdings on Monday and a soft-focus “community leader” profile on Wednesday.

Investigative journalism score: 0/10.

Critical thinking score: did they ever take the class?

Then there’s the new kid on the block – Marianas Press, founded by Thomas “News? What’s News?” Mangloña II.

This Obama Leader, this college instructor, this self-proclaimed savior of CNMI journalism who just celebrated his outlet’s one-year anniversary like he cured cancer. Cute website, nice headshot, lots of “exclusive interviews” that are softer than overcooked lumpia.

But ask yourself: how does a guy graduate college, get all these fancy fellowships, and still produce content that reads like it was written by the governor’s intern?

Did they offer “Critical Thinking 101” at Northern Marianas College the year he went, or was it replaced with “Yellow Journalism: How to Spot It, How to Do It”?

Because brother, you’re doing it. Every “scoop” is just another administration talking point gift-wrapped in hashtags.

And don’t get me started on NMI News Service – the all-digital, all-apologist, all-the-time “news” outlet that exists solely to regurgitate whatever press release the current administration farts out that morning.

Lapdog doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is the kind of outlet that would report on the Titanic sinking with the headline “Ship Experiences Minor Water Feature, Captain Remains Optimistic.”

These are the same “journalists” – mostly long-term visa holders who gamed the CW system, had anchor babies, or married their way to green cards – who lecture actual Americans about “local control” while never having lived a single winter in the real United States.

They’ve never paid mainland federal income taxes, never felt real patriotism, never understood why taxpayers in Ohio are furious that their money bought someone’s cousin a new truck.

When the audit dropped, did any of them demand answers?

Did they chain themselves to the governor’s gate? Hell no.

Pacific Island Times remains the only outlet still doing real journalism – Bryan Manzanarez deserves a medal, a raise, and federal protection.

The rest? They’re not journalists.

They’re propaganda interns who learned the trade from reading each other’s Facebook posts.

They’ve never felt what actual American patriotism feels like – the kind that boils your blood when you see $257 million stolen while veterans sleep on sidewalks in Los Angeles.

They think patriotism is a flag filter on their profile pic and never, ever asking why the money always disappears toward Manila or Fujian.

It’s not funny anymore.

Actually, it is – in the most tragic, infuriating way possible.

Congratulations, CNMI press corps – you didn’t just play yourselves.

You helped steal Christmas. And Thanksgiving. And every other paycheck the rest of America earned.

Now pass the bleach.

Final Thoughts

America spent $4+ trillion saving itself from COVID.

Most of it worked – vaccines, stimulus checks, the works.

Some of it walked out the door and took a first-class flight to Dubai, or in CNMI’s case, a cargo ship to Fujian.

In the CNMI, they didn’t even bother with the middleman – they just loaded the money straight onto the yacht labeled “Campaign Contributions & Mystery Construction Projects.”

With 2025’s mainland busts showing no mercy (18-year sentences for fake kids? Yikes), it’s time for the grown-ups to take the car keys.

Because the rest of America is tired of paying for the CNMI’s joyrides – especially when the destination is “Anywhere But Accountability.”

Sincerely,

Every taxpayer who just watched $5,477 of their money disappear somewhere between Capitol Hill and a Manila bank account.

(And if you’re reading this in the CNMI, start printing receipts.

The feds are coming.)

About the Author

Zaji “Persona Non Grata” Zajradhara is a staunch advocate for American workers and indigenous rights in the CNMI. Labeled a “persona non grata” by the CNMI government for his relentless pursuit of justice and his outspoken criticism of corruption and foreign influence, Zajradhara has become a symbol of resistance against the forces seeking to undermine American sovereignty in the islands.

As An Unemployed Afro-American resident and father, Zajradhara's firsthand experience with the CNMI’s dysfunctional labor market, its rigged political system, and the exploitation of vulnerable communities has fueled his activism. He has filed numerous legal claims against companies, including Tan Holdings, for violating labor laws and discriminating against American workers.

His unwavering commitment to exposing the truth, challenging the status quo, and demanding accountability has made him a thorn in the side of the CNMI establishment and a target of their efforts to silence him. However, Zajradhara remains undeterred, determined to fight for the rights of American workers and to protect the CNMI from the grip of foreign influence.