IPI mum on community chest payments

Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC has not responded to inquiries on reported financial reports suggesting its failure to comply with a provision of the amended Casino License Agreement.

Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from IPI soon after House Gaming Committee chair Rep. Ralph Yumul’s (R-Saipan) asked the Commonwealth Casino Commission and the CNMI Lottery Commission in a letter dated Oct. 18, 2019, updates on the status of IPI’s payments to the Community Benefit Fund, or CBF.

In a CNMI Lottery Commission meeting on April 25, 2017, the Casino License Agreement, or CLA, was amended at the request of IPI to set new deadlines for it to contribute to the CBF.

IPI was allowed to delay $10 million payments to the CBF Jan. 1, 2018, and another $10 million payment to the fund no later than June 1, 2018. IPI is also mandated to make subsequent payments of $20 million annually to the CBF beginning on or before Oct. 1, 2019, according to the amendment, which would be used to fund education, scholarships, infrastructure, health care, and employee retirement benefits.

However, citing “audited financial statements for the years ended Dec. 31, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2018,” Yumul noted that IPI’s payment to the CBF for 2018 is short by $17 million. Yumul further asked the Lottery Commission and the CCC whether IPI has already made the $20 million CBF payment for 2019, which had a deadline of Oct. 1, 2019.

Saipan Tribune reached out to IPI chief executive officer Mark Brown Thursday afternoon but he has not responded as of publication. Saipan Tribune also reached out to press secretary Kevin Bautista for comments from the Torres administration, but he said that Commerce Secretary Mark Rabauliman, who is also the CNMI Lottery Commission chief, would be issuing a statement.

Rabauliman told Saipan Tribune in a brief exchange over the weekend that he would be meeting with commissioners from the CCC and the Lottery Commission to discuss the matter.

“My office is in receipt of [Yumul’s] letter,” Rabauliman said. Besides requesting for updates on the status of the 2018 CBF payments, Yumul also asked for information on any actions that either the CCC or the Lottery Commission have taken on the matter.

“I just received the letter so I don’t have the information, hence I am setting up a meeting with the commissioner[s] to ascertain any information relative to the letter by [Yumul],” he said, responding to requests to verify Yumul’s claims in the letter.

Sen. Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) in a four-page letter dated June 12, 2019, also wrote Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ office regarding the CBF.

Manglona previously stressed that, based on his letter, he just wanted to hear from the CNMI Department of Finance and the Lottery Commission about the status of the CBF as required in the CLA.

Manglona did not confirm if Torres’ office responded to his letter.