Chinese tourists sue Tinian Dynasty

A Chinese family sued Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino in the U.S. District Court yesterday for alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Consumers Protection Act, and invasion of privacy, following the defendant’s alleged refusal to cash $22,000 worth of gambling chips.

Wagon Xy Xiong, a resident of Guam, and his brother Wei Jin An, together with the latter’s wife, Wei Hong, Wei’s minor child, and a nephew accused Tinian Dynasty of intentional infliction of emotional distress when they stayed at the hotel last July.

Court documents showed that Wagon and Wei Jin had met with his visiting family members from China on Saipan on July 19 and traveled together to Tinian. Based on the complaint, Wei Hong had bought a tour package for herself and the two children amounting to $10,000 per head, for a total of $30,000.

Wagon funded the purchase through a wire transfer from an account in the People’s Republic of China. On July 19, the three visitors arrived on Saipan and ferried to Tinian, together with Wagon and Wei Jin An. They said that a TDHC employee, identified as Tommy Coelho, also flew with them and accompanied them to Tinian.

They said that their travel was “not necessarily to gamble but to provide a holiday to [the] CNMI” for Wei Hong and the two children. The PRC citizens were entitled to a five-day visitors visa as arranged by TDHC with the CNMI government.

Upon arriving at the hotel, the tourists claimed their $30,000 worth of chips for gambling at the casino as part of the package deal. The defendant issued them special chips worth $30,000.

On July 20, Wagon played blackjack using the chips, and concluded his play using regular chips totaling $22,000.

Afterwards, Wagon paid TDHC $1,694 in special chips for the airfare, food and lodging, and miscellaneous costs.

The plaintiffs said the entire time that Wagon and his brother Wei Jin played blackjack, Coelho stood by their side.

At 1:30pm on July 20, Wagon informed the defendant that he would no longer gamble and wanted to redeem $22,000 in cash. This happened after Wagon and Wei Jin were refused from cashing the regular chips by casino staff. The plaintiffs claimed that they saw Coelho signaling to employees not to cash the chips. They said that even the manager refused to convert the chips without permission from Coelho.

According to the complainants, Coelho told them that they could not cash their chips and that they could be arrested in China “for gambling overseas, that the money used to purchase the gambling junkets may be dirty, and that Wagon and Wei Hong could have substantial problems with PRC officials.”

Coelho allegedly claimed to have substantial influence in the province of Wagon in China and advised him not to cause any trouble.

Alarmed, Wagon called a U.S. citizen friend on Saipan for help. Wagon and his friend went to the police station on Tinian and reported the matter. The police allegedly advised him to refer the case to the Tinian Gaming Commission located at the hotel.

Wagon spoke with agents of the commission, “who did not resolve the issue.”

Wagon and his family then decided to fly to Saipan.

Coelho allegedly followed them to the Tinian airport and repeated his threats and even warned that if they leave Tinian, Federal Bureau of Investigation and CNMI immigration officials would be called in “and that they would be in big trouble if they get their money back in PRC.” Coelho allegedly demanded that the group stay on Tinian and gamble some more.

Despite this, the Wagon family continued with their trip to Saipan. From the Saipan airport, the group went to the seaport where their car was parked. On the way, the two children saw two vans following them, prompting Wagon to call another friend, who called the police.

One van left but police accosted and spoke with the driver of the other van, who identified himself as working for TDHC.

Meantime, Wagon demanded in writing to TDHC that it pay him $22,000 but the defendant explained that based on an “unwritten policy,” it could not cash the chips in the CNMI but would pay for the chips in PRC.”

In their complaint, the Wagon family said that “TDHC and Coelho and others did intend to cause shame, fear, embarrassment, humiliation, and anger to Wagon and his family and to hold them unlawfully on Tinian.”

The plaintiffs demand a $100,000 compensatory damages for emotional distress, punitive damage for a minimum of $400,000 each, and special damages collectively at $1,694.

The plaintiffs, represented by lawyer Richard W. Pierce, said that on top of the $30,000 worth of tour package, TDHC charged them an additional $1,000 to permit the transfer of money from PRC to TDHC.