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IPI makes full payment
Finance Secretary David Atalig confirmed yesterday that Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC has paid the remaining balance in its annual casino license renewal fee of $15 million.
With IPI’s last day to pay due yesterday, Atalig confirmed with Saipan Tribune that the lone casino licensee wired to the CNMI government $10.5 million.
Last week, IPI reportedly paid only $5.5 million of its annual obligation. That means that IPI has now paid $16 million in all—$1 million higher than the required $15 million.
Atalig said the additional $1 million would go to the Commonwealth Casino Commission’s previous statement that the company should pay an additional $502,000 for adjustments based on the consumer price index.
“IPI wired the $10.5 million and we received the wire transfer,” Atalig told Saipan Tribune. “There was no explanation [about] the delay of payment but that would be a CCC issue. The CCC can still impose a penalty under their [Casino License Agreement].”
Whether penalties will be imposed on the lone casino licensee is a call that the CCC would have to make, according to Atalig.
Atalig told Saipan Tribune in a separate interview over the weekend that he gave the company 15 days from Aug. 12, 2019, to complete its renewal fee payment. IPI was originally set to pay the renewal fee by Aug. 12.
Atalig noted that a separate letter from the CCC gave a similar timeline. Yesterday was the last day for IPI to pay the fee.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said in a previous interview that he and the Office of the Attorney General have already started to look at possible courses of actions over IPI’s delayed payment.
“Wherever you go, there are procedures that need to be followed and this is [an example of a procedure]; they [IPI] are delinquent in their payment, and so there are going to be procedures that need to be done in order for us to…give them due process,” he had said.
According to the CLA, which the CCC enforces on IPI, delayed, partial, or the non-payment of “…any amount due and payable” within the Casino License Agreement constitutes a breach. A breach in the CLA can result in the suspension or even revocation of the casino license.
