New owner would also buy old debts
A group of Hong Kong investors may give new life to the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & casino on Tinian Island, one of three principal islands in the South Pacific Northern Mariana chain.
The Saipan Tribune reports that the investment group led by Tim Chen inspected the resort, which closed in March 2016 after former owner Hong Kong Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Tinian Dynasty then was acquired by Chen’s Tinian Entertainment Corp., one of HKE’s principal creditors. But the property did not reopen when Chen’s company balked at paying $75 million in fines assessed against HKE by the U.S.-based Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FINCEN charged the former owner with “willful and egregious violations of the Bank Secrecy Act” and failure to adhere to anti-money laundering standards.
Chen said he wants Tinian Dynasty to reopen “as soon as possible” but still refuses to pay the fines. He told the Tribune he has “hired some lawyers in Washington” in search of a resolution.
Tinian Mayor San Nicolas said he hopes to see “three hotels and casinos on the island” with the opening of the new international airport.
“The next step is to make sure we do have rooms but when we had 435 rooms available, the first thing that any investor would ask is, ‘What about your flights coming in, do you have a port that accepts international flights?’ So this takes care of that,” he said.
