CNMI chief judge recuses herself from IPI bankruptcy case due to conflict of interest

Chief Bankruptcy Judge Robert J. Faris from the District of Hawaii has been appointed to preside over the matter.

Northern Mariana Islands.- Chief judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has recused herself from presiding over Imperial Pacific International (IPI)’s bankruptcy proceedings due to a conflict of interest after her brother-in-law, Thomas A. Manglona, was confirmed as a member of the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC). District by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals chief judge Mary Murguia has appointed chief bankruptcy judge Robert J. Faris from the District of Hawaii in her place.

A former port manager in Rota, Thomas Manglona was nominated to join the CCC by governor Arnold I. Palacios a month ago. He filled the seat vacated by Martin Mendiola, whose term ended on April 30.

In an interview with The Saipan Tribune, the new members of the regulator said: “I look forward to working with the other commissioners to move forward through the many issues we are currently facing. With a lot of collaboration and communication with stakeholders, I think we can move forward. First, I have to sit down with all of the members to discuss what issues we have to tackle first.”

The addition of a new member establishes quorum, enabling the CCC to address revocation proceedings against IPI. Before Manglona’s confirmation, the CCC had two commissioners and one chair, but three commissioners were required to establish a quorum. Deleon Guerrero has recused himself from proceedings to serve as an advocate for the petitioner, CCC executive director Andrew Yeom, who filed a complaint against IPI for its failure to pay the casino licence and regulatory fees.

The CCC needs the federal court to lift the automatic stay on the revocation hearing following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition filed by IPI earlier this year.

Court rejects IPI assets sale plan

Chief judge Ramona V. Manglona denied IPI’s bid to sell its unfinished Garapan hotel casino and real estate assets. Manglona also turned down IPI’s request to employ Keen-Summit Capital Partners to promote IPI’s property.

Instead, the judge granted IPI creditors’ request to engage Intrepid Investment Bankers to market IPI’s properties as a holistic business rather than real estate property. The committee had said Intrepid could be able to identify potential buyers that the previous limited marketing process had overlooked.

According to The Saipan Tribune, creditors said that if the approach does not succeed, IPI can proceed with a real estate sale using the proposed real estate broker.

IPI’s main real estate assets include a hotel building that is currently under construction with a casino, a leasehold interest in around 19,204 square meters of land leased from the Department of Public Lands (DPL) under Lease Agreement No. LA-15-002S, and IPI’s ownership interest in Imperial Pacific Properties, which holds a leasehold interest in eight lots adjacent to the leasehold property.