By Emmanuel T. Erediano
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
THE Tinian and Aguigan Legislative Delegation on Wednesday passed Senate Local Bill 24-4 seeking to allow the delegation to appropriate more than $100,000 in the possession of the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission, which was abandoned when gambling investors withdrew their applications for licenses.
Over the past decade, according to the bill authored by Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider and co-sponsored by Senate President Karl King-Nabors and Sen. Frank Q. Cruz, numerous applicants for casino license fees, key employee licenses, and service provider license fees have withdrawn their applications, abandoned the licensing process, dissolved as legal entities, or otherwise ceased operations without completing the regulatory process or requesting the return of any unused investigative deposits.
As a result, the Tinian gaming commission is currently in possession of more than $100,000 in investigative deposits that have gone dormant, unclaimed, or abandoned, with no active contact information and no legally viable methods under existing regulations to use the funds for the regulatory purposes for which they were originally collected.
S.L.B. 24-4 proposes to define “abandoned” investigative deposits, create a uniform and lawful process for identifying, noticing, and escheating such deposits to the Tinian gaming commission, allow a transitional six-month claim period, and authorize the Tinian delegation to appropriate the funds to pay regulatory or investigative costs and offset outstanding commission fee assessments, penalties, and taxes owed by applicants and licensees.
The Senate bill was transmitted to the Office of the Governor on Wednesday.
Emmanuel “Arnold” Erediano has a bachelor of science degree in Journalism. He started his career as police beat reporter. Loves to cook. Eats death threats for breakfast.
