Saipan’s struggling Imperial Pacific Saipan casino hotel has been hit with a second complaint from regulators in the Northern Mariana Islands for failing to honor financial obligations included in its casino license.
The property, which had its electric power cut off back in May for lack of payment, is under a threat from the Commonwealth Casino Commission to suspend its license after missing an obligatory US$37 million payment to a community development fund.
Now, the commission has slapped the resort with a breach of contract complaint for failing to pay a $3.1 million installment on its $15 million annual license fee that’s been overdue since last October.
The complaint could result in substantial fines and the license suspension that owner Imperial Pacific International has managed to avoid to date.
The company, which also is under a U.S. court-ordered judgment to pay $5.6 million owed to former contractor Pacific Rim Land Development, said it may have to close the resort without financial concessions from the government of the U.S. Pacific Ocean territory.
IPI also is reported to be seeking permission to sell the resort’s hotel and to find fresh investors.
In a move tantamount to a closure, Pacific Rim Land has requested a U.S. federal court order allowing it to sell the casino’s slot machines to recoup part of what it’s owed. IPI has responded with a request to the court to allow one of its investors, Pacific International Property Management, to deposit approximately $6 million in a commonwealth bank while IPI appeals the initial $5.6 million judgment.
