Embattled Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has added the governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to its federal lawsuit against the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC).
IPI claims that both have breached the operator’s casino license agreement (CLA). As a result, IPI asserts, it does not have to pay $62 million in past-due licensing fees, $17.62 million in regulatory fees, as well as fines and penalties, for a total of almost $80 million.
IPI is demanding a jury trial in the case, which names CNMI Governor Arnold Palacios, CCC Chairman Edward Deleon Guerrero, CCC Vice Chairman Rafael Demapan, commissioners Mariano Taitano, Martin Mendiola and Ramon Dela Cruz and executive director Andrew Yeom.
According to the Guam Daily Post, as part of the lawsuit, IPI alleges multiple violations of the constitutions of the United States and the commonwealth (CNMI became a U.S. territory during World War II).
The suit claims that IPI is “exempt or excepted from, or not subject to, the terms of the regulatory fee because of the express terms of the CLA entered into by IPI and CNMI prior to the enactment of the annual regulatory fees statute.” It seeks an injunction “preventing the enforcement of the regulatory fee statute and the collection of the annual regulatory fee,” which it claims is unconstitutional and amounts to “double-charging” the operator.
IPI also wants the defendants to pay restitution for “all regulatory fees paid by IPI in the past; and vacate, nullify any and all adverse administrative decisions against IPI that were based upon the annual regulatory fee statute.” It acknowledged that it “was and is” still liable for a $3 million annual regulatory fee.
Assistant Attorney General Keisha Blaise, representing the commission, said the lawsuit is groundless and should be dismissed. “IPI seeks to relitigate matters that were previously addressed in prior enforcement actions,” she said.
Since 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, IPI, operator of the Imperial Pacific Palace, the sole casino on the island of Saipan, has failed to pay its obligations to the commonwealth. In 2021, the CCC suspended its license, and is considering revoking it outright.
