A stay on the auction of electronic casino equipment owned by Imperial Pacific International in Saipan has been lifted by the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
The machines, intended for the now-shuttered Imperial Palace Saipan, were due to be auctioned off by a receiver in order to help pay off IPI’s creditors. The stay was put in place last year. Before that, the receiver, Clear Management Ltd., had intended to run an auction a month for six months to repay some of the $2.1 million IPI was ordered to pay one of its construction contractors, USA Fanter Corp.
Fanter sued IPI in 2021 after IPI failed to pay it for casino work done in 2019.
IPI was able to have the auction delayed several times, but this time Chief Judge Ramona V Manglona granted a request to lift the stay—but gave IPI two weeks to object to specific items being listed for auction.
Meanwhile IPI is still fighting to prevent the revocation of its casino license by the Commonwealth Casino Commission. IPI owes nearly $100 million in unpaid fees to the Commonwealth of North Mariana Islands. IPI claims it has obtained funding that will help it pay all its debts and fees.
