Imperial Pacific Denounces ‘Fake News’ Bankruptcy Rumors

Imperial Pacific Denounces ‘Fake News’ Bankruptcy Rumors.

Costfoto / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

Saipan casino developer Imperial Pacific International (IPI) says that rumors circulating on social media regarding the company’s financial status and one of its senior executives are false.

Imperial PacificMark Brown worked in Atlantic City under Donald Trump. Now he’s back in the fold at Imperial Pacific having previously resigned in December 2017. (Image: Imperial Pacific International)

In a press statement released Monday, the company categorically denied it had entered into bankruptcy proceedings, adding that it had initiated legal action against the unnamed source of the rumors for spreading “slanderous, fake news.”

IPI noted that entering bankruptcy would have required an official announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Profit Plunge

The company is building the Imperial Palace Casino on the Pacific island of Saipan, a US overseas territory. The rumors come a month after the company unexpectedly 80 construction workers, despite having missed its deadline to complete the project for a second time.

IPI secured a two-and-a-half-year deadline extension from the island’s government but will still be four and a half years late on delivering, even if it hits its new deadline.

Last week it announced it was seeking to raise $38.3 million through a bond placement, money that will be used for “general corporate purposes.”

In August, the company announced its profits had plummeted 91.3 percent in the first half of 2018, largely because it had been forced to write off $733 million in unrecoverable bad debt, most of which was owed by just ten VIP clients.

Revolving Doors 

But IPI is not just shedding construction workers. Last month, its CEO and chairman, , became the fourth high-level executive to resign in just over a year. Since then, it has reinstated former chairman Mark Brown. Brown – who once managed Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino empire left in December 2017 in order to “to pursue other projects close to his family.”

Along with the mysterious rumormonger, IPI is also suing Bloomberg, which has alleged the company engaged in financial improprieties with senior officials in the Saipan government. This has been strenuously denied by both IPI and officials on the island.

In 2017, following a death of a laborer, the Imperial Palace construction site was raided by the FBI, which uncovered widespread visa violations among the workers, most of whom had been shipped to Saipan from China.

Several of IPI’s contractors were charged with labor violations, including importing and harboring undocumented workers. They were ordered to pay millions in back wages.

Article Sources
Las Vegas Sands Shares Stand to Benefit From Leading Asia Positions, Including Macau and Singapore editorial policy.
  1. Michigan Gaming Control Board Hopes to Add Fourth ‘R’ Into Public Education Curriculum

Compare Accounts
×
Caesars Eyes Sale of Las Vegas Asset, Plans $1B iGaming, Sports Betting Investment
Provider
Name
Description
Bettors Predict Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court Vote Before November 3 Election  Gaming Money Battles: Which States Fought It Out with Operators, and Who Won In 2017  Ontario Casinos Report Increased Suspicious Activity at Cashier Cages  NBA Draft Odds Favor Markelle Fultz as Top Pick, Lonzo Ball Going to Los Angeles  Marina Bay Sands Cheaters May Have Cracked Baccarat Card Counting  Wynn Resorts Results Again Walloped By Macau  British Columbia Casinos Alleged to Have Been Used to Launder Millions by Criminal Gang  National Labor Relations Board Scolds Red Rock Casino Effort to Pause Union Talks  Blackjack, Craps Now Legal in Paris Gaming Clubs  Rivers Pittsburgh Roulette Cheating Case Sees Two More Players Charged