CFO of embattled Northern Marianas utility is fired

5:21 pm on 28 May 2016

The chief financial officer of the Northern Marianas's embattled Commonwealth Utilities Corporation has been fired a day after he warned about the utility's grim financial status.

The surprise dismissal of Matthew Yaquinto by the corporation's board "without notice" further adds to the CUC's lineup of vacancies in federally-required top-order positions.

Our correspondent says the dismissal appears to be in retaliation, and comes a day after he told the board that the corporation is going bankrupt because of a loss of revenue.

By law, the CUC has to find another chief financial officer within 150 days.

But it has also been incurring as much as US$40 million in penalties because it has not been able to recruit for the vacant positions of executive director and deputy executive director.