In the Northern Marianas, the Division of Customs Service may have forfeited thousands of dollars in taxes due to a defective computer system the agency installed for nearly 600,000 US dollars in 2005.
The company which installed the software, Express Electronics, is the same company which later installed software for the NMI Retirement Fund costing over 400-thousand US dollars in 2008
Express Electronics is owned by businessman Gary Sword.
But unlike the Retirement Fund, the Division of Customs or the Department of Finance didn't sue Mr Sword or his business, Express Electronics.
Former Customs director, Jay Santos, says it was almost toward the end of his term as division director when the system was installed and like other former and current Customs officials interviewed he said the system had a lot of challenges.
The Marshall Islands government is also running after Mr Sword for alleged failure to fulfill a contract obligation also involving a management software system.
