By Island Times Staff

President Toribiong has jumpstarted the investigation into the Pacific Savings Bank debacle by appointing an assistant attorney general to act as an independent counsel.  {reg}

Former independent counsel Lewis Harley abruptly left Palau before the PSB investigation concluded, citing family emergencies.

Thousands of depositors lost an estimated $22 million dollars when the bank closed its doors in November 2006, and an initial probe revealed evidence of fraud and mismanagement at what was once the country’s second large banking institution. Several top officials were subsequently charged but most of those charges were later dismissed.

Only PSB’s former president, Tim Taunton, remains facing charges although his whereabouts are unknown at this time, according to Harley’s last report before leaving the country.

In the meantime, the depositors continue to seek answers, including whether they’ll ever get their money back.

And perhaps vowing to public pressure, President Toribiong, in a letter yesterday to Attorney General Ernestine Rengiil, said he was appointing Assistant Attorney General Nelson Werner to the independent counsel post to resume the work previously done by Harley.

As independent counsel, Werner is “authorized to assume the duties and authority of the independent counsel and is specifically authorized, with funds remaining in the independent counsel budget, to retain a forensic accountant for the expressed purpose of reviewing and analyzing the records of PSB and determining the full extent of the civil and/or criminal liability of the individuals involved with the failed institution…”

Additionally, Werner will take the lead in the investigation and prosecution of matters related to the closing of PSB and report his progress directly to Rengiil.

Werner will remain on the job for the duration of his government contract or until a new independent counsel is hired, whichever comes first.

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