By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
LIJIE Cui, the former majority shareholder of Imperial Pacific International, asked the Saipan Immigration Court to set a monetary bond for her temporary release while removal proceedings continue.
Cui, represented by attorney Charles McDonald, requested the bond hearing on Friday, Jan. 16. To support the request, McDonald submitted 173 pages of documents, including a green card application, marriage certificate, proof of residency, utility payments, and a financial affidavit.
Presiding via teleconference, Honolulu Immigration Judge Clarence Wagner raised concerns about Cui’s previous failure to comply with a District Court for the NMI order in a labor dispute. Seven workers had alleged workplace injuries, and Cui, a third-party witness, was found in contempt for violating a preservation order and was ordered to pay more than $40,000 in sanctions — an amount she later satisfied. Cui told the court she had followed her attorney’s advice at the time.
The contempt matter was brought to the court’s attention by U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney John Robert Odle, who is also prosecuting Cui’s current immigration case.
After hearing from both parties, Judge Wagner continued the bond proceedings to Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. to review what he described as the “voluminous” supporting documents. Throughout the hearing, Cui answered questions from her attorney and DHS‑ICE counsel regarding her immigration status. She testified through a court-appointed interpreter, citing limited English proficiency.
Cui told the court she first arrived in the CNMI in 2016 and left in 2019. She returned in February 2020 and has remained in the Commonwealth since. She said she married a U.S. citizen on Oct. 18, 2024, has no U.S.-citizen children, and applied for a green card following her marriage.
She also said she previously submitted a letter to DHS explaining why she did not depart the CNMI in 2023, citing a pending lawsuit involving IPI. Cui added that she retired from her executive position with IPI in 2023.
ICE agents arrested Cui on Jan. 13 for allegedly overstaying her E-2C long-term investor visa. Cui said she voluntarily visited the Saipan ICE office one week before her arrest to request additional time. “I was there on my own,” she said. She testified that she visited the ICE office three times before she was detained, though she was not taken into custody until Jan. 13.
Cui confirmed she previously served as IPI’s chairwoman of the board. Her husband also worked for IPI but is no longer involved with the company. Odle questioned her about her son, Xiaobo Ji, and whether he was involved in a crime syndicate in China. “I have nothing to do with him,” Cui said. She said she has no communication with him, does not know his current whereabouts, and “did not ask.”
Cui, a Chinese national and longtime Hong Kong resident, was a central figure in IPI, which operated Saipan’s casino for four years before shutting down in March 2020 at the onset of the Covid‑19 pandemic. She and her son oversaw the development of the casino and hotel project in Garapan. As a foreign investor in a U.S. jurisdiction, Cui is required to maintain a valid E‑2C visa to remain in the CNMI.
IPI filed for bankruptcy in April 2024, reporting more than $165 million in liabilities. Team King Investment (CNMI) LLC completed its $12.95 million purchase of IPI’s casino assets last year following a court-approved auction.
In federal bankruptcy filings, CNMI government representatives noted close ties between IPI and Team King principals, suggesting the relationship facilitated Team King’s acquisition of the casino assets.
In a federal court declaration, Governor’s Office legal counsel Brendan Layde stated that IPI helped arrange Team King’s participation in the auction. Layde also disclosed that IPI manager and director Howyo Chi, 40, married Cui last year, roughly six months after IPI filed for bankruptcy.
After the hearing, Cui was transported back to ICE custody at the Department of Corrections in Susupe.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
