The Commonwealth Casino Commission of the Northern Mariana Islands is willing to speed up the effective date of the orders that it gave the green light a few days ago. Furthermore, Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, who chairs the Commission, revealed that in case Imperial Pacific International (IPI) fails to make sure it is in line with any of them, the regulator would be forced to revoke its operating license.
Mike Ernest, a legal counsel at the Commission, got in contact with an official of the Commonwealth Register Office who informed him that the three orders of the regulator can be published by the end of the week.
Under the provisions of Commissioner Order 2020-002, Imperial Pacific International is required to maintain enough funds for three-month payroll, while under Order 2020-004, IPI is required to meet its obligations to both its private vendors and the Government. The Orders are set to come into effect 10 days after they are published in the Commonwealth Register. Imperial Pacific International, on the other hand, is given 15 calendar days from that date to comply with the Orders.
As explained to commissioners by Frances Mafnas, the treasury director of IPI, the company has reached an agreement with a Guam-based service provider to handle the payroll and give it the chance to address Commissioner Order 2020-003. The federal court has frozen the operators’ bank accounts due to the lawsuit that Pacific Rim filed against IPI for the latter’s failure to make the due payments to its former contractor.
IPI Must First Resolve Its Pacific Rim Dispute, Casino Commission Says
As members of the Commonwealth Casino Commission noted, under the provisions of Section 12 of its Order 2020-003 IPI is required to deposit the funds in the bank under the company’s account name and not of other companies. The Commission’s chair explained that the Northern Mariana Islands’ gambling regulatory body is willing to hold Imperial Pacific International accountable, not other operators.
Tao Xing, the senior vice president for public affairs at IPI, referred to the writ of execution given to Pacific Rim by the District Court for NMI and revealed that in case the company opens a new bank account, it could be raided. He further asked the Commission members whether they could change the order’s language so that it becomes broad enough to accommodate the objective of paying people.
The legal counsel of the Commission, however, said that the casino watchdog was unable to help IPI evade a court order. As explained by Mr. Guerrero, the company has to first resolve the problem with Pacific Rim in order for the payroll account reserve to be allowed in the bank. He further noted that the required three-month payroll reserve must be placed in a Northern Mariana Islands’ or US bank, and the account must be in the name of IPI.
