ATTORNEY Michael Dotts told the federal court on Monday that Imperial Pacific International distributed payroll on time and without incident on April 23, 2021.
“IPI employee housing still has power. Food services have continued without interruption for all IPI H-2B workers,” he said in his 15th status report to the District Court for the NMI.
As for employee repatriation, Dotts said, “There is nothing new to report,” and construction work at the IPI resort in Garapan remains suspended as ordered by the court.
He said IPI’s next payday is May 7.
On March 29, 2021, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona approved the first amended consent judgment between IPI and the U.S. Department of Labor, thereby suspending the previously ordered receivership for the casino developer.
The judge earlier ordered IPI and IPI chairwoman Cui Li Jie to purge their contempt of court by paying $1,182,793 in back wages owed under the 2019 consent judgment, or go into receivership.
The total amount owed by IPI under the previous consent judgment was $3.36 million.
According to the stipulation of the parties, IPI paid a total of $1,929,425.28 toward the consent judgment from March 2019 to March 2021.
The remaining balance from the previous consent judgment is $1,430,574 plus $47,856 wages owed for a total amount of $1,478,430.
To purge contempt and to pay the amounts remaining in the initial consent judgment as well as the unpaid total for work periods 21-26 and 1-3, IPI was ordered to make incremental monthly payments of $164,270.08 from April 1, 2021 to Dec. 1, 2021 for a total amount of $1,478,430.72.
According to Dotts, IPI has complied with the first amended consent judgment and remitted the $164,270.08 payment due in April.
IPI also offered its Flame Tree Terrace property, which it owns through an affiliate, East Gain Global Ltd., as security for its monetary liability.
Michael Dotts
