ATTORNEY Michael Dotts has informed the federal court that the crystal dragons in the IPI hotel-casino lobby are among the assets of Imperial Pacific International LLC.
“IPI confirms that it owns the dragons in question,” said Dotts who represents the casino investor.
“They [the dragons[ were paid for by the parent company and shipped to IPI,” he added.
It was the court-appointed receiver, attorney Joyce Tang, who wanted to know if the crystal dragons are owned by IPI.
In his eighth status report to the District Court for the NMI regarding the U.S. Department of Labor litigation against IPI, Dotts attached the shipping records and invoice for the crystal dragons.
“The dragons are part of the interior design of the resort and are carried on IPI’s books as part of the construction in progress costs,” he added.
According to the designboom website, LASVIT, a Czech glassmaking company, “installed a crystal gem-studded sculpture featuring two flying dragons within a casino resort in Saipan. Spanning over 60 meters (200 feet) and weighing 40 metric tons (44 U.S. tons), the project is described as ‘the largest piece of jewelry ever made.’ [Thirteen thousand] stainless steel scales fitted with crystals were made to cover the dragon’s body, with more than 2.5 million [S]warovski crystals used to decorate the scales. Each crystal is illuminated and can change color, meaning that the dragon can turn from green to red almost instantly.”
An invoice from LASVIT indicated that IPI paid a total of $10.278 million for the crystal dragons (and not $129 million as earlier reported).
As for the payroll distribution, Dotts said IPI’s next payday is on March 12, adding that IPI “has sufficient funds available to cover this payroll.”
Regarding housing and food for the employees, the lawyer reported that IPI employee housing units still have power and food services have continued without interruption for all the H-2B workers.
Dotts said construction at the IPI site in Garapan remains suspended as ordered by the court.
He also informed the court that a water pump broke at the casino-resort where food for the employees is prepared.
“It is a deep well and IPI is currently estimating the costs of repair. The well is needed to supply water for food preparation and cleaning, and it is also used to provide water to one of the residential facilities. A crane will be needed to remove the pump,” Dotts said.
He added that IPI will confer with the USDOL, “and if it is felt by the department that an order is needed to allow this repair work, IPI will bring a motion.”
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI recently granted the USDOL’s request to appoint Guam attorney Joyce Tang as receiver of IPI.
Judge Manglona also granted USDOL’s request to allow the parties to pursue arrangements for a possible settlement to pay off the balance of the consent judgment.
She imposed a self-executing receivership that will take effect on March 12 at 1:30 p.m. should IPI fail to pay the balance at that time.
Judge Manglona previously found IPI, IPI Holdings Ltd., and IPI chairwoman Cui Li Jie in contempt of court for violating the previous consent judgment with the USDOL, and for not paying IPI’s current employees for over two months.
On March 1, 2021, IPI informed the court that it would not be able to pay the consent judgment, prompting the USDOL to nominate Tang as IPI receiver. The lawyer is also the federal-court-appointed trustee of the CNMI Settlement Fund.
