Imperial Pacific: no connection with execs facing prosecution

Casino company Imperial Pacific has stated that it has no involvement in the case of two executives indicted in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Northern Mariana Islands.- Imperial Pacific has released a statement to distance itself from the charges against two senior executives.

The firm claims only one former staff member is involved and that the case is related to contractors not to the group itself.

The company said: “Having made all reasonable inquiries, the board hereby clarifies and confirms that one of the persons indicted by the United States Department of Justice was a former employee of the Group who was non-managerial staff and left in 2017.”

It added: “It is understood that the concerned incidents involve an allegation against MCC International Saipan Ltd. Co., one of the contractors of the Group in 2016, of matters including harboring illegal aliens. The Group is not prosecuted on the concerned incidents by the United States Department of Justice.”

According to the indictment, filed on August 1 last year, two executives, Liwen Wu, Yan Shi and Jianmin Xu, face criminal charges for breaching labour laws.

They are accused of conspiring to illegally hire Chinese workers instead of US citizens or other foreign nationals for the construction of the Grand Mariana Casino Hotel on Saipan island.

The scheme, which reduced labour costs while avoiding penalties for exceeding the company’s CW-1 visa quota is alleged to have lasted until March 2017 and resulted in at least 600 illegal workers on site.

Federal prosecutors also allege the three executives illegally transferred more than US$24 million to the US to promote their activity.