CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has extended the effective date of Imperial Pacific International LLC’s receivership for another week following a request from the parties.
Judge Manglona modified her previous order that set the terms of IPI’s receivership, and ordered IPI receiver Joyce Tang not to take any action concerning the sale of assets until March 19, at 1:30 p.m.
“All other terms and provisions of the order remain unchanged,” the judge added.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor, through attorney Charles Song, and IPI, through attorney Michael Dotts, submitted a stipulation to stay the effective date of the receivership by one week.
The stipulation stated that on March 5, the parties appeared before the court and advised that they were negotiating an agreement to purge the contempt of the defendants. They requested the court to delay the effective date of the appointment of the receiver for one week to allow the parties to continue their negotiations.
At the request of the parties, Judge Manglona initially set the effective date of the receivership for March 12, 2021 at 1:30 p.m.
But according to the stipulation submitted on Friday, USDOL-Wage and Hour investigators have been examining the payroll documents provided by IPI, and require more time to determine the amount of wages due.
For his part, Dotts said he has been working diligently on a resolution, but the parties need more time to complete their negotiations.
Dotts also said that the USDOL attorneys have been communicating with the receiver who has agreed not to take any action until March 19 to give the parties more time to reach an agreement.
Judge Manglona previously ordered IPI and IPI chairwoman Cui Li Jie to purge their contempt of court by Friday, March 12, at 1:30 p.m. by paying $1,182,793 owed as back wages under the 2019 consent judgment.
The judge also ordered the defendants to deposit $800,000 in an escrow account to secure the future payment of wages to IPI’s employees.
The defendants were likewise ordered to pay the outstanding back wages owed to former workers employed after the 2019 consent judgment was entered.
If the defendants fail to comply, the judge said the court-appointed receiver will “perform all acts deemed necessary to comply with this order.”
As receiver, attorney Joyce Tang will receive compensation at the rate of $350 per hour plus applicable business gross revenue tax.
She “shall be compensated from [the] defendants’ cash or the proceeds of the sale of IPI assets. Compensation shall include the receiver’s fees and expenditures,” the judge said.
