THE U.S. Marshals Service has been directed by the federal court to seize Imperial Pacific International LLC’s motor vehicles to satisfy judgment in the lawsuit filed by a construction company against IPI.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has granted USA Fanter Corp. Ltd.’s application for a writ of execution.
According to the court order, IPI owns motor vehicles which include heavy equipment with an estimated value of $1,051,304.
“The amount was determined by using the Kelley Blue Book’s valuation of the motor vehicles in May of 2021 and the assumption that all the motor vehicles were in ‘optimal condition,’ ” the judge said. “However, the assumptions made in May 2021 are less applicable in light of the current circumstances. Two years have passed, and IPI’s motor vehicles were not maintained, used, or stored in a manner to protect their value. The motor vehicles were not maintained on a regular basis, nor were they ever used. Instead, IPI’s motor vehicles are rotting within IPI’s casino resort basement parking and elsewhere. Due to the lack of maintenance or use, and the poor conditions where they are stored, the motor vehicles have significantly depreciated in value.”
Last year, the federal court struck IPI’s answer to USA Fanter’s complaint and found the casino investor in default.
USA Fanter seeks over $200,000 in damages for a relatively straightforward set of claims including breach of contract and account stated, Judge Manglona said.
“Yet this case has been pending for over a year, and IPI has not demonstrated any good faith for its failure to comply with the court’s discovery order. To avoid the unnecessary expense and burden of a trial without IPI having an attorney to defend itself, the court determines that sanctions are appropriate,” she said.
In considering the possible sanctions, the judge said the court previously found IPI in contempt of court for the same failure to produce a witness properly noticed for a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition and imposed the lesser sanction of awarding attorney’s fees and costs to the plaintiff.
Because trial was scheduled to begin on Nov. 15, 2022, only weeks away from the second order to show cause hearing, and this being the defendant’s second contempt finding for the same violation, Judge Manglona set aside IPI’s answer and ordered that an entry of default pursuant to Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure be entered against IPI.
In its lawsuit, USA Fanter stated that IPI failed to pay a construction staging lease agreement, a construction contract, quarry products, and heavy equipment rentals.
USA Fanter also sued IPI for its failure to pay the full amount due under their construction contract for labor and materials provided for the improvement of IPI’s real property in Garapan. The lawsuit stated that IPI had paid USA Fanter $300,000 only and the unpaid balance due was not less than $2,089,345.28.
In that lawsuit, the federal court issued a final judgment in favor of USA Fanter, but since the judgment has not been satisfied, a receiver, Clear Management, was appointed to oversee the sale of IPI assets.
USA Fanter also won a defamation lawsuit against IPI and was awarded by the federal court $500,000 in damages.
In that lawsuit, USA Fanter Corporation accused IPI of making libelous statements in a press release it transmitted to and was published by the two local newspapers: Marianas Variety and Saipan Tribune.
