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CCC recommends $200K maximum penalty
The Commonwealth Casino Commission believes that setting a ceiling of $5 million on any potential penalty that could be imposed on the casino is “excessive” and that the ceiling should be at $200,000, based on other casino industries.
The House Gaming Committee, which adapted Rep. Edwin K. Propst’s (Ind-Saipan) House Bill 20-50, which sets the maximum penalty the CCC may impose on the casino at $5 million per violation, was described as “excessive” by CCC executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero.
“…In any kind of law, the sanction is always looked at in terms of the validity of [a] law. If [a] law is too vague, oftentimes [the law] is invalid. If the law has excessive penalty, oftentimes it is looked upon very harshly,” Deleon Guerrero told Saipan Tribune. “We looked at Nevada, New Jersey, Singapore, Macau, Australia, and South Korea for how much they charge for personal violation versus a company violation. We gave [the Legislature] a recommendation of $250,000 as a ceiling per violation.”
Current law allows the CCC to impose up to $50,000 per violation as a maximum penalty on Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC.
H.B. 20-50, which passed the House Gaming Committee, raises the proposed maximum penalty to $800,000 per violation. It now heads to the House for deliberation.
According to Deleon Guerrero, the CCC has the authority to suspend or revoke the license of IPI when it sees fit.
According to a previous interview with House Gaming Committee chair Rep. Joseph Deleon Guerrero (R-Saipan), the penalty ceiling would be the largest potential penalty that a casino could be fined in the entire U.S.
“It is three times higher than any U.S. jurisdiction,” said Deleon Guerrero, adding that the maximum penalty, if enacted, exceeds even that of Australia, Macau, and Singapore.
