Cui Li Jie, chairwoman and executive director of embattled Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has announced she is stepping down, citing “personal time constraints.”
The reason is likely more complicated, and less to do with Cui’s personal life than her association with IPI, the foundering operator of an as-yet unfinished casino resort on the Western Pacific island. According to AGB Nippon, earlier this year Cui faced possible jail time when she failed to comply with a subpoena and apparently perjured herself in testimony about the operator’s ongoing financial and legal woes.
Cui blamed the oversights on her legal counsel, Juan T. Lizama, and the fact that she does not understand English; Saipan is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. protectorate.
Attorney Aaron Halegua, who represents construction workers who sued IPI over labor and human trafficking allegations, said Cui’s request for time to retain another lawyer “demonstrates a pattern of dishonesty and obstruction.” He said Cui has engaged in “bad faith and obstructionist conduct … that do not have any connection to Mr. Lizama,” who resigned on May 29.
Cui allegedly deleted WeChat data from her phone following a March request to preserve that data, then asserted that the data had been preserved. She later claimed to have lost the SIM card, but continued to use the phone. “This pattern of noncompliance cannot all fall solely on the shoulders of Mr. Lizama,” Halegua.
Imperial Pacific has been involved in multiple lawsuits due to its failure to pay its debts and narrowly avoided being placed into receivership in March after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor.
In related news, Andrew Yeom, executive director of the Commonwealth Casino Commission, says the $2 million budgeted for its operation by the government isn’t enough to run the regulatory body. Yeom said it “would be better for us” if there were more casinos on Saipan.
“We only have one exclusive licensee,” IPI, he said, and until recently, it had been unable to meet its financial obligations, including a $15.5 million annual casino exclusive license fee, a $3.1 million annual casino regulatory fee and a $6.6 million penalty. It was recently ordered to pay $5.9 million in damages to the construction workers. According to local media, CNMI Governor Ralph Torres says if IPI doesn’t pay its debts, lawmakers may have to “take the next step and move on.”
Last week local media reported that IPI is up-to-date on payments to clear a backlog of unpaid back wages.
