In an April 23 filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd. (IPI) confirmed that its gaming license on the island of Saipan has been suspended. The move followed years of improprieties by IPI, including repeated failures to pay license and regulatory fees, as well as wages and contractor fees.
The firm’s local operating unit has been ordered to pay outstanding fees of US$18.6 million and fines amounting to US$6.6 million.
The largest island in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, Saipan is a U.S. territory and subject to U.S. law. The Saipan Tribune, citing Chairman Edward Guerrero of the Commonwealth Casino Commission, said if the local operating unit does not settle its accounts, the regulator would seek revocation of the casino license.
In the filing, the casino operator’s parent company said it has been closed since March 2020 “to help curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. The group is using its best endeavors in working towards satisfying the abovementioned sum[s] in order to lift the suspension of license.”
Meanwhile, Marianas Variety reported last week that the regulator also suspended issuance of any junket licenses for IPI. CNMI Governor Ralph Torres sent a letter to the regulator expressing concern about the use of junkets due to the Chinese government’s threat to blacklist any jurisdictions that lure Chinese citizens to gamble overseas.
In related news, Commonwealth Casino Commission Chairman Edward C. DeLeon Guerrero has maintained his seat following a vote by commissioners. At the CCC’s regular monthly meeting, officers were installed for the term lasting from May 1 through April 2022.
Deleon Guerrero was the CCC’s executive director for five years when Torres appointed him commissioner in April 2020. He was later elected chairman. Rafael S. Demapan remains vice chairman of the commission, with Mariano Taitano as treasurer, Ramon M. Dela Cruz as secretary and Diego M. Songao as head of public affairs and media relations.
