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Saipan Vegas owner drops ethics complaint vs Yumul
The owner of e-gaming club Saipan Vegas, MP Holdings LLC, has dropped its ethics complaint against Rep. Ralph N. Yumul (R-Saipan) before the House of Representatives.
MP Holdings LLC game room shift manager Audrey Castro and game room supervisor Maximina Gablonza wrote House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez last Wednesday about the withdrawal of the complaint.
Castro and Gablonza said that after careful consideration and reflection, they have decided to withdraw their ethics complaint against Yumul.
“We bear no ill will and have come to understand that, from his perspective, he was always acting with the best interest of the CNMI at heart,” they said.
The dismissal means Club 88 has also withdrawn its complaint as co-complainant.
Last August, Saipan Vegas and Club 88 filed the ethics complaint against Yumul for introducing House Local Bill 22-8 despite allegedly acknowledging a conflict of interest because his brother is the chief executive officer of their competitor, Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC.
MP Holdings, LLC and Mariana Entertainment LLC, owners of Saipan Vegas and Club 88, respectively, submitted their ethics complaint before Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) based on Yumul’s participation in the legislative process that led to enactment of House Local Bill 22-8.
That bill essentially doubled the license fees imposed on e-gaming machines.
Last month, Bartley A. Jackson, general manager of MP Holdings, told the House of Representatives Gaming Committee that they want to help the Legislature find solutions to the CNMI’s financial problems and that they are confident they can find a workable accommodation that will help the Legislature raise additional funding and allow MP Holdings LLC to remain in business.
