Ex-operator of hotel files $1M suit against its former and new owners

The former operator of Holiday In Saipan Resort Club has filed a $1-million lawsuit against the former owners of the hotel for allegedly refusing to pay for operating expenses, management fees, and commission over the sale of the property.

Nancy C. Garcia and her Family Alliance Corp., FAMACOR, sued JEMCO Inc. and owners Ojiro Ishihara, his wife Motoko Ishihara, and Kazuki Fishimi. Garcia and FAMACOR also sued the current owners of the hotel and its company and management: Chong Nam Lee, CN Lee International Inc., Moon Ki Yoo, Ok Ja Wang, and ABANA Co. Ltd.

The plaintiffs, through lawyer William Fitzgerald, sued the defendants for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, assisting a breach of fiduciary duty, interference with a contractual relationship, and unjust enrichment.

Garcia and FAMACOR asked the Superior Court to order the defendants to pay them $1 million in punitive damages for their alleged intentional and malicious nature of their actions.

According to the lawsuit, Ojiro Ishihara was the sole owner and president of JEMCO. Motoko Ishihara, wife of Ojiro Ishihara, was a director. Lee is the owner of CN Lee International. Yoo and Wang are principal owners of ABANA Co.

Fitzgerald stated in the complaint that Garcia was a longtime CNMI resident who provided bookkeeping services and other business consultation and services to Japanese individuals and businesses since 1988.

Fitzgerald said Garcia first met Ojiro Ishihara in 1988 when she, through her employer, provided accounting and bookkeeping services to him and his Saipan company, Japan Enterprises Marianas Corp.

In 1993, Garcia established FAMACOR, which began providing accounting and bookkeeping services to Ojiro Ishihara and Japan Enterprises.

That same year, Ojiro Ishihara and Japan Enterprises sold all of its assets. He incorporated JEMCO to purchase a hotel on Saipan known as the Blueberry Hotel.

Shortly after the purchase of the hotel, Ojiro Ishihara changed the name of the hotel to Holiday In Saipan Resort Club, Fitzgerald said.

After the purchase of the Holiday In and because he resides in Japan, Ojiro Ishihara asked Garcia and FAMACOR to manage the hotel until the property could be sold to a third party, the lawyer said.

He said Garcia’s and FAMACOR’s management of Holiday In included supplying manpower to the hotel; providing transportation to guests from the airport to the hotel; accounting and bookkeeping services; and payment of bills.

Fitzgerald said Garcia was made vice president of JEMCO.

In exchange for such services, Fitzgerald said, Ojiro Ishihara agreed to pay Garcia a commission of no less than $250,000 upon the sale of the hotel to a purchaser.

Despite over 100 potential purchasers, the lawyer said, Ojiro Ishihara was unable to find a purchaser that met his sale demands.

“Accordingly, from 1993 to 2007, Garcia and FAMACOR continued to operate Holiday In pending the anticipated sale of the property to a third party,” Fitzgerald said.

During its operation, Fitzgerald said, Ojiro Ishihara and JEMCO were receiving the vast majority of revenues from the operations of Holiday In, but they failed to and refused to remit them to Garcia and FAMACOR to cover operating expenses, management fees, and other obligations with regard to the operations.

He stated that Garcia and FAMACOR were compelled to finance deficits in operating expenses from their own businesses.

In December 2006, Garcia learned that Ojiro Ishihara, along with his wife Motokoo and Fushimi, had found a potential purchaser.

In March 2007, Ojiro Ishihara and Fishimi, with the assistance of other people, sold the Holiday In to a third party purchaser. The purchasers were Yoo and his wife Wang through their company ABANA. Lee and his company, CNL, assisted and facilitated the sale, according to Fitzgerald.

CNL, Fitzgerald said, became involved in the management and the operations of the property under the new owners.

“Upon the sale, Ojiro Ishihara, JEMCO, Fushimi, Yoo, Wang, ABANA, Lee, and CNL and possibly other people failed and refused to reimburse plaintiffs for the operating expenses they had incurred related to their management of the hotel,” the lawyer said.