Saipan gambling regulators have filed a complaint against their lone casino licensee Imperial Pacific International (IPI) for once again failing to pay its annual dues.
On Wednesday, Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) exec director Andrew Yeom filed a notice of complaint against IPI for failing to pay its $15.5m annual license fee by the August 12 deadline. CCC chair Edward Deleon Guerrero said the notice was served Thursday, giving IPI 15 days to pay up or face the consequences.
IPI famously slow-rolled payment of its license fee last year and the company’s new CEO assured the CCC last month that the company wasn’t about to repeat that mistake. But August 12th came and went without payment, prompting Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Gov. Ralph Torres to warn IPI that this routine was getting old.
Yeom’s complaint says IPI’s failure to honor its commitments means the company is in breach of its license agreement, and asks the CCC to impose a $50k daily penalty on IPI until the license fee is paid.