THE Commonwealth Casino Commission on Friday submitted to the Legislature its fiscal year 2022 citizen centric report which stated that CCC’s revenue amounted to $15,001.
Of the amount, $1 is the commission’s share of the CNMI local revenue appropriated from the general fund, while $15,000 is the “other regulatory fee” paid by vendors and other service providers contracted by Imperial Pacific International.
The service provider still doing business with IPI is IPWAN Security Services whose security guards are manning IPI’s warehouses in Chalan Piao and Tanapag.
Variety was told that IPWAN Security Services ceased providing services to IPI since Oct. 24 due to non-payment of service and salaries.
The commission reported that its limited revenue is due to IPI’s failure to pay $3.15 million that was due on Oct. 1, 2021.
According to its centric report, CCC spent a total of $1,016,613: $561,795 for employees’ salaries and benefits, $277,461 for board compensation, $53,240 for operational expenses, $120,000 for office rental, and $9,117 for travel.
The funding source was the regulatory fee paid by IPI for the year 2019.
The casino commission has 10 employees left, in addition to the commissioners: Chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero, Vice Chairman Ralph S. Demapan, Martin Mendiola, Mario Taitano and Ramon Dela Cruz.
Mendiola said in August, “We are in the finish line of our budget” which, Variety was told, is only good until this month.
In its centric report, the commission said it relies on the regulatory fee for its operational and personnel budget. IPI, the commission added, “has failed to make payments for years 2020, 2021, and 2022, claiming force majeure due to the series of typhoons and the Covid-19 pandemic.”
This non-payment is subject of the ongoing litigations in local and federal courts, the commission said.
The commission has appealed to the Ninth Circuit the federal court’s ruling that granted IPI’s right to dispute its non-payment through arbitration.
The federal court’s ruling, the commission said, “weakens CCC’s authority to effectively regulate the casino gaming industry.”
As result, the commission said, it is “faced with serious challenges to continue its operations without any funding, as well as to move the industry forward due to the federal court’s intervention in this matter.”
