THE plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Department of Finance and 21 poker owners have asked the Superior Court to force these operators to prove that they have paid their licensing fees and taxes.
If these 21 poker operators cannot prove that they are paying fees and taxes as required by the law, the plaintiffs should be allowed to seize the poker machines while the lawsuit is pending, according to attorneys Danilo T. Aguilar and Timothy M.B. Farrell.
Aguilar and Farrell are representing plaintiffs L&W Amusement Corp., Northern Marianas Investment Group Ltd., Pacific Amusement, Inc. and Leonard G. Wolf Jr. They filed a $2.1 million lawsuit against Finance and 21 poker operators over the continued operations of alleged unlicensed gaming machines in the commonwealth.
The lawyers, in court papers, said that if the 21 operators do not pay the licensing fees and taxes owed on the seized machines within 60 days, then the plaintiffs should be allowed to sell the machines to pay for storage costs and attorneys fees.
The plaintiffs also asked the court to compel Finance within 21 days to organize and manage its efforts to enforce the laws related to the gaming machines, “especially those related to the collection of licensing fees and taxes in a way that the public can understand and hold (Finance) accountable.”
Aguilar and Farrell claimed that because of the government’s failure, the people of the CNMI lost $6.4 million per year from licensing fees alone and continue to lose millions of dollars each year.
They said that by allowing these operators to operate without valid licenses and in violation of the statutes and regulations, Finance is ignoring the constitutional mandate forbidding gambling absent strict regulation.
“Furthermore, these illegal gaming establishments expose their patrons and the public in general to arrest and possible imprisonment for patronizing the operating defendants,” the two lawyers said.
