The owner of the Imperial Palace casino project in Saipan – Imperial Pacific International (IPI) – shared that it remains hopeful that it would soon receive the long-desired exclusive gaming license. In the meantime, it has been hit by a couple of bad news that would result in more financial difficulties for the company that has already been struggling with its financial state.
For years, Imperial Pacific International has been dealing with some Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) officials, including the territory’s gambling regulatory body and courts, over its incompetence. Recently, a court-ordered arbitration was completed but the competent authorities have still not unveiled a decision on the next steps that will follow.
The Imperial Palace Casino project, which development was never completed, currently remains closed and inoperable. This, however, has led to various concerns regarding potential environmental contamination and the project’s structural integrity. Apart from that, its owners from IPI have fallen into debt worth tens of millions of dollars, and this does not include any costs to make sure the property adheres to the minimum requirements to start operation.
The Imperial Palace Casino is expected to be further diminished soon.
Imperial Pacific International Will See Casino Vehicles Sold to Pay Off Serious Debt
A few days ago, a court judge from the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands gave the nod to a request filed by the US Marshals Service asking for permission to seize Imperial Pacific International vehicles. For the time being, the complete inventory of the seizure is not known. According to reports, the list seizure list includes heavy equipment that was purchased by the company for the construction of its Imperial Palace casino.
The aforementioned seizure is part of a broader settlement that was approved by the court in a move aimed at settling a legal action against Imperial Pacific International by USA Fanter, a construction company. The casino company had not paid the construction company more than $2.1 million, which eventually led to the lawsuit. On the other hand, this resulted in a series of auctions of various types of casino equipment, including gaming and slot machines. Unfortunately, the overall amount accumulated as a result of the sale is smaller than the one that is owed by IPI, so the seizure of the new vehicle asset is set to help the company close the massive gap.
A few years ago, Imperial Pacific International issued a series of press trying to disparage USA Fanter and those actions eventually resulted in a defamation lawsuit that boosted the amount owed by the casino company by another $500,000 once the suit was upheld by a court judge.
According to reports, the vehicles that are set to be seized have been valued at approximately $1.05 million based on their 2021 values. The equipment, however, has sat unused for years, experts say it will have gotten a lot worse throughout that time.
IPI Finds Itself in the Middle of Ongoing Turkish Worker Lawsuit
The ongoing legal battle with the construction company USA Fanter is one of the longest-running in Imperial Pacific International’s history so far, but the company is dealing with another lawsuit for years – an alleged worker discrimination legal battle.
The casino operator has already lost a number of discrimination cases, including one against Joshua Gray, a former executive, that cost the company about $5 million.
According to media reports, IPI hoped to see a court dismiss legal action filed by a group of Turkish workers suing the operator for discrimination but that did not happen. The casino workers in question had sued the operator twice, but Imperial Pacific International managed to convince a court judge to dismiss both suits. Unfortunately for the operator, the judge left the door open for the plaintiffs to make amendments to their complaints every time.
Eventually, the latest attempt of the casino operator to convince the judge to dismiss the third amendment of the plaintiff’s complaints failed, so the legal troubles of the operator are set to continue for at least six more months until the end of 2023.
The lawsuit concentrates on the pay received by workers from different counties, a finding that caused serious problems for Imperial Pacific International several years ago. For example, the plaintiffs discovered that Italian workers of the company earned almost four times as much as they do for the exact same job, while workers in Taiwan were granted three times bigger pay. As mentioned above, the original legal action includes three Turkish employees of the company but could grow bigger to a class-action lawsuit involving a total of 107 Turkish employees, causing additional financial troubles to the already struggling casino company.
