Court rejects Imperial Pacific appeal on licence suspension

Mar 17, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World  

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The Superior Court of the Northern Mariana Islands has dismissed an appeal from casino promoter Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd regarding the suspension of its gaming licence for the United States jurisdiction of Saipan.

The Saipan Tribune newspaper reported that the court ruling, published on Wednesday, affirmed the decision from the Saipan gaming regulator, the Commonwealth Casino Commission, to suspend Imperial Pacific’s casino licence and impose penalties on the group.

In April last year, Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific confirmed that its casino licence had been suspended, and that its local operating unit had been ordered to pay outstanding fees amounting to US$18.6 million, and a fine of US$6.6 million.

Casino operations at the Imperial Palace Saipan casino resort (pictured in a file photo) have been paused since mid-March 2020, according to previous corporate information.

In Wednesday’s ruling, the judge said the court found there had been no error of judgment from the gaming regulator with regards to the suspension of Imperial Pacific’s exclusive casino licence, said the Saipan Tribune.

“Ultimately, the Casino Commission’s decision with respect to these violations is not connected to the force majeure defence [Imperial Pacific] raised before the Casino Commission,” the judge was cited as saying by the media outlet.

“Therefore, in short, the Casino Commission’s decision was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or, not in accordance with law,” he reportedly added.

In July last year, a federal court in the United States had ordered a unit of Imperial Pacific to sell its vehicles and gaming machines, in order to settle some of its debts. In August, Clear Management Ltd was appointed to administer, collect, or sell any casino gaming property in which the local unit of Imperial Pacific has an interest.

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