From left, Commonwealth Casino Commissioner Mario Taitano, Vice Chairman Ralph S. Demapan and Assistant Attorney General Carl Dela Cruz during a break from a regular meeting last month.
THE Commonwealth Casino Commission has rescheduled Imperial Pacific International’s exclusive casino license revocation hearing for Feb. 20, 2024.
This is the second time the revocation hearing was re-scheduled.
In December, the commission scheduled the license revocation hearing for Jan. 31, 2024, in CCC’s conference room at Springs Plaza in Gualo Rai.
Last month, the commission re-scheduled the hearing for Feb. 12, 2024, as requested by the commission’s executive director, Andrew Yeom.
On Feb. 5, 2024, the commission’s vice chairman, Rafael S. Demapan, who will be presiding over the revocation hearing, issued an order granting an amended second joint motion to continue the scheduled enforcement hearing on Feb. 20, 2024.
The commission will hear complaint Nos. 2021-002 and 2021-003 pertaining to IPI’s failure to pay the CNMI government the $15.5 million annual exclusive casino license, which has now amounted to over $62 million, and the $3.15 million annual regulatory fee due to the commission now totaling $17.6 million.
IPI owes the CNMI a total of $79.63 million, the commission said.
Demapan’s order stated that “the parties continue to be engaged in settlement negotiations and require additional time.”
“Good cause appearing, the motion is granted,” the order added.
Yeom earlier told the commission that “we are making progress in settlement discussions in both of our efforts to seek an amicable resolution with the help of our legal counsels as well as IPI’s.”
