My fellow Micronesian brothers and sisters,  

As many of you know, in Micronesia, our land is what defines us and keeps us tied to our roots with pride and culture. It is what keeps us Micronesian to this day. This is why I along with many others in the islands are in urgent need of your help. If lawyer Nora Esquire of FSMDB had not lied to the court about information and numbers she made up, many of us would never have had to part from our land, our homes.

Due to the false information Nora had given to the court that grants her power to auction people’s land, we have faced and continue to face illegal takings from the FSMDB. In 2013, we would never have lost our two properties, land, and building, if Nora had told the truth to the court. In 2015, Nora used the same evil techniques on a third property, which included our family cemetery, as she had done on our first two auctioned homes. As we continue to fight to keep the 3rd property, Nora is now attempting to complete a 4th auction of another one of my father’s land. FSMDB needs authorization from the Chuuk State Court for my fathers probate case in order to auction out the properties. The loan was not my father’s and there was never a petition for the heirs to use the land for collateral. Nora knew this petition was required and still proceeded to lie and auction out the properties anyways. Neverending land auctions that are only occurring due to phony numbers and false representations given to the court. Nora garnished all the rent money and auctioned vehicles yet did not report any to the court, making it look like we never paid. That is not true. We’ve paid, paid, and have paid endlessly. Majority of the payments went to the interest column, with rent garnishments not accounted for, and proceeds of auctioned vehicles that were not credited to loan. Nora hid the credit life insurance and continuously collects interest profits as if she is running a collection agency. Nora keeps “upstairs” loan collection numbers that are not aligned with the “downstairs” numbers. Her office is located upstairs of FSMDB.

There are many more wrongs she has committed against us and others on the islands. Just last week, Nora auctioned another piece of land in Pohnpei for a loan that the principal was paid in full, plus more than $100,000 in interest profits. Some of these land auctions are on unpledged land which are not collateral to the loan. These illegal takings have got to stop. We have lost so much. We are hurting and continue to hurt. We cry for help. And we pray for help. Our government cannot allow Nora, a foreigner, a non-FSM citizen who isn’t even able to own land, to come into our islands just to auction out our land and homes. How much more money does Nora want from us? The FSM Development Bank is owned by the people, for the people, it is supposed to be a government’s bank. Our government should not allow Nora to continually take from the people and hurt us to our core along the way. For us, it’s been 20 years of suffering. For a Pohnpeian family in a similar situation as mine, it’s been 28 years. For a Kosraean family I know personally, it’s been 30 years. And these are only a few. The corruption must come to an end. It is time to say enough is enough.  

Please join me in urging our island leaders, including the FSMDB Board of Directors, which represents the island states of Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, and Yap, to immediately stop lawyer Nora from working for the government, particularly the FSM Development Bank, where the government has stored so much of the people's money. FSMDB is meant to serve The People… and We The People must stop Nora from overusing her power to abuse the system. Help to protect the people’s land and properties, something that is very important to us as Micronesians. Help to reassure that no other families in the islands have to go through what my family and many others in the islands have already suffered through. Your signature on this petition will assist in putting an end to the abuse. If you would like to personally hear more of my stories, please email me @isetik@yahoo.com. 

Kilisou Chapur, Kulo Ma lulap, Kalangan, Kamagar.  

God Bless you all,

Irene Setik