IPI agrees to secure $6M bond in case of seven construction workers

Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC has agreed to secure a $6 million “supersedes bond” in the case filed by seven former construction workers alleging labor violations.

The parties in this case filed a stipulation, or agreement, with the U.S. District Court for the NMI yesterday, with IPI agreeing to issue a supersedeas bond (or bonds) in form and substance acceptable to plaintiffs from an accredited company in the total amount of $6,000,000 on or before June 30, 2022.

In exchange for securing the bond, the seven workers agree that they shall take no action to execute on or enforce the default judgment granted in their favor of over $5 million.

Also, the parties informed the court that they will execute a stipulation in which IPI agrees that the seven construction workers may take over the limited receivership to sell the gaming equipment and assume all rights previously held by U.S.A. Fanter Corp. Ltd. However, upon approval of this agreement by the court, the parties agree to stay any action by the receiver for a set period of time and agree that the stay will be further extended so long as IPI performs all of its obligations under the agreement.

While IPI works on securing a supersedeas bond, three of IPI’s properties on Saipan will be put up as collateral: Flame Tree, Chalan Lau Lau dorm, and its property in San Roque.

“Once the supersedeas bond totals $6,000,000, IPI shall be entitled to a release of the encumbrances on the collateral properties, except for Flame Tree (or another single property of plaintiffs’ choosing), which shall remain as a collateral property until the appeal is concluded and all additional amounts have been indefeasibly paid to plaintiffs. However, IPI may also elect to secure an additional supersedeas bond in the amount of $1,250,000 (or to amend the existing supersedeas bond to a total of $7,250,000). In which case the encumbrances on all of the collateral properties shall be released,” the agreement stated.

The leasehold for the 16-parcel property on Saipan, Flame Tree, is currently held by East Gain Global, according to Bruce Berline and Aaron Halegua, who represent the seven workers in this case. Currently, the U.S. Department of Labor holds a lien against Flame Tree. However, IPI agrees and warrants that all monies owed to USDOL shall be paid consistent with the payment schedule agreed with the USDOL and filed with the court. This means the USDOL is expected to file a satisfaction of judgment on or before March 1, 2022, and the USDOL’s lien on Flame Tree shall then be vacated or released.

According to a previous article on Saipan Tribune, the plaintiffs in this case have reached an agreement on all substantive terms of an agreement to stay enforcement, under which IPI will provide sufficient security and the plaintiffs will agree to stay enforcement of their judgment pending the outcome of IPI’s appeal.

The plaintiffs in this case are Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan.