IPI receives 30-day notice for settlement of $62M casino license fees

The Commonwealth Casino Commission board has given Imperial Pacific International (IPI) a severe 30-day warning about the non-payment of a significant $62 million in past-due casino licensing fees that are owing to the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

The CNMI casino requires an annual licensing fee of $15.5 million, and IPI is expected to settle any unpaid sums for the years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. At a meeting on Thursday, the board determined that the 30-day repayment window that was given was “reasonable”.

Several winding-up applications filed against IPI in Hong Kong, where it is listed, have exacerbated the company’s financial problems. Thus, IPI share trading on the Stock Exchange has been banned as of April 1, 2022.

Because IPI has not made yearly license payments since 2020, the CNMI Supreme Court upheld the suspension of the company’s exclusive casino license earlier this month. Even though IPI had claimed that the COVID-19 epidemic was a force majeure occurrence that released the corporation from its financial commitments, the CNMI Supreme Court decided that IPI was still had to pay.

Despite these financial difficulties, Ji Xiaobo, the owner of IPI, made headlines when a Beijing court recently labeled him a mafia boss. The situation facing IPI is now more complicated as a result of this discovery. Furthermore, fifteen investors from the International Petroleum Institute (IPI) were found guilty in China of running an illegal casino, trespassing on private land, acquiring illegal loans, and assisting in unlawful border crossings.

As the 30-day window for paying past-due casino license payments approaches, IPI’s status in the CNMI gaming sector remains unclear. The company is going to run into financial, legal, and regulatory issues.

Original story by: Asia Gaming Brief