NMI Judge found former IPI chairwoman in contempt of court again

Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has found Cui Li Jie, former IPI chairwoman, in contempt of court again as she failed to provide backups of her electronically stored information.

Northern Mariana Islands.- Cui Li Jie, IPI’s former chairwoman has been found to have failed to provide backups of her electronically stored information and the correct login information for her iCloud account. NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has called her to explain her failure to comply and she could face a penalty of US$500 a day.

Attorney Clyde Lemons, who is representing Cui, has reported his efforts in retrieving backup ESI data and gave notice of the intention to issue a subpoena. Cui’s other lawyer, Joey St. Nicholas, told the court that he would act as a local lawyer to assist in issuing subpoenas to comply with the court’s order. He said Cui was willing to assist and comply. 

The judge ordered Cui to issue a subpoena before Friday, November 5, 2021, and submit a statement before November 8, 2021, detailing why the latest ESI backup data was not provided and why the subpoena was necessary. Mariana’s Variety reported the judge also arranged a state meeting at 8am on November 12, 2021 and that a written order would be issued. 

Seven construction workers accuse IPI of labour abuse and human trafficking. Cui Li Jie was named third-party witness in the case. On March 31, 2021, the court approved a motion from the plaintiff and issued an order instructing Cui to identify and save all telephone data she used or created after March 26, 2020. 

In June, Cui Li Jie said that she was poorly represented in court by her lawyer, Juan T. Lizama. However, in an email disclosed in federal court, Lizama says that John Mo Shi Jian, a former University of Macau law professor, was giving Cui Li Jie bad advice.

In August, Cui Li Jie was also found to have breached a court preservation order that obliged her to keep data from her mobile phone.

At the time, the court “found that Cui blatantly disregarded the court’s order by continuously deleting her WeChat messages even though the court’s preservation order required that she preserve all ESI data.”