DISTRICT Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona has granted the request of seven workers to lift the stay on the sale of Imperial Pacific International’s casino gaming machines to satisfy judgment pursuant to the receivership established in U.S.A. Fanter Corporation v. Imperial Pacific International (CNMI), LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-00003.
The seven construction workers sued IPI over allegations of labor violations and human trafficking.
At the hearing, their attorney, Aaron Halegua, asked the court for an order pertaining to any last-minute objection from IPI.
Judge Manglona instructed IPI to lodge any objections within two weeks regarding the list of assets or items listed on Clear Management’s website for auction.
She told the parties that any sale is subject to the court’s approval.
“Parties [will] work on protocol for [a] potential transfer of receivership assets to another warehouse,” the judge said.
In addition, she awarded the plaintiffs attorney’s fees and costs and directed Halegua to submit fees and costs by Aug. 30, 2022, and IPI to lodge any objections by Sept. 8, 2022.
The plaintiffs were previously employed by IPI’s former contractor and subcontractor, MCC International and Gold Mantis, both of which have already settled with the workers.
On May 26, 2021, the federal court entered a default judgment in favor of the workers plus post-judgment interest and attorney’s fees for a total amount of $5.9 million.
Because of IPI’s failure to pay the judgment, the federal court granted the plaintiffs’ application for a writ of execution for the seizure of IPI’s personal property, including its casino gaming machines.
On March 16, 2022, Judge Manglona, granted a stipulation, filed in the Fanter case between the plaintiffs and IPI, that stayed the enforcement of the writ.
Under the stay agreement, the court amended the receivership in the Fanter case to add the seven workers as additional creditors with the right to step into the shoes of Fanter to enforce the judgment owed to the plaintiffs.
In that stay agreement, IPI recognized that in the event it failed to comply with the stay agreement, the plaintiffs would have the right to proceed with enforcement via receivership.
On May 27, 2022, Judge Manglona found that IPI had defaulted on the agreement.
The plaintiffs — Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu and Duxin Yan — have requested the court to lift the stay on the limited receivership and sell IPI’s casino gaming equipment so that the judgment can be satisfied.
IPI, through attorney Kevin Abikoff, objected, saying that 4 CMC § 51564 required Fanter and the Wang plaintiffs to first obtain permission from the Commonwealth Casino Commission and a license from the commission prior to seeking the writs and the limited receivership over the casino gaming machines.
The commission, which agreed with the court’s ruling in the appointment of a receiver, also informed the court that it does not oppose the sale of IPI’s casino gaming machines.
USA Fanter, for its part, sued IPI for its failure to pay the full amount due to the plaintiff under their construction contract for labor and materials provided for the improvement of the Saipan casino investor’s real property in Garapan.
According to that lawsuit, IPI had paid USA Fanter $300,000 only and the unpaid balance due was not less than $2,089,345.28.
Judge Manglona has issued a final judgment in favor of USA Fanter.
At the hearing on Aug. 16, 2022, Judge Manglona also directed IPI to pay the balance to Clear Management by Aug. 30, and to pay Michael White attorney’s fees in the amount of $300.
Judge Manglona likewise allowed the two civil lawsuits of Turkish construction workers to participate in the receivership.
Represented by attorney Richard Miller, these plaintiffs — Özcan Genç, Hasan Gökçe and Süleyman Köş — sued IPI in 2021 for not paying them the federal minimum wage (with 26 other workers). In 2022, they also filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court against the Saipan casino operator.
In February 2022, Judge Manglona, awarded the plaintiffs a total of $477,935.91 for damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
As of Wednesday, there was still no update on the South Korean IH Group’s investment agreement with IPI.
In May, IH Group said it would provide IPI funding to reopen its casino and pay some of its obligations to its vendors, including payroll.
