DPL says new Rota Resort’s owners may be ‘trespassing’

The new owners of the Rota Resort & Country Club might be trespassing on public lands after failing to obtain approval from local authorities for their purchase of the 600-acre complex last month and could be forced to shut down or face a lawsuit.

The CNMI Attorney General’s Office, in a letter sent to the Rota Resort’s new owners yesterday, points to a recent report in the Saipan Tribune published earlier this month detailing the resort’s sale and warns that any change in ownership requires approval from the Department of Public Lands, which the new proprietors have yet to gain.

JMSH LLC announced in an August news release that it had purchased the Rota Resort, prompting the Pacific Daily News in Guam to print a short item on the sale that can still be viewed on the newspaper’s Web site. The Saipan Tribune later published a Sept. 13 story on the new owners’ plans to draw tourists to Rota.

Rota Resort LLC, a branch of JMSH LLC, is now operating the resort, the company’s management has previously said. If the news reports on the sale are accurate, the AG’s office says, the resort’s new owners are trespassing and must leave.

“If the Rota Resort LLC has purchased the Rota Resort without an accompanying approval by the Department of Public Lands, you are hereby notified that you are trespassing,” the letter says. “You are to immediately cease all business operations and vacate the premises as you have no authority to operate on public land. Failure to comply will result in litigation.”

The letter adds that the Department of Public Lands knew about a proposal to sell the property but has no notice of a sale.

“The Commonwealth Department of Public Lands is aware of a proposal to transfer the ownership of the Rota Resort, but takes a dim view of persons acting without approval. We demand a response to this letter within ten days,” it says.

Chief of Rota Resort LLC, Hee K. Cho, has already confirmed the sale in a tape recorded Sept. 12 telephone interview, saying the company “closed the escrow” on a deal to purchase it last month for a confidential sum.

“Escrow was closed about a month ago,” he said, adding that he invested $1.1 million into the resort before finalizing the deal to revive its struggling operation. “Even before the close of the escrow, I jumped in with the management because the former owner lacked the funds to operate.”

Cho did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

Meanwhile, Rota Resort LLC has a host of plans for boosting tourism to the CNMI, including renovations to its hotel in order to attract more honeymooners and deals to increase chartered airline service to the island.