NMI bankruptcy court approves IPI interim funding

Half of the money will be used to pay the Department of Public Lands for its lease.

Northern Mariana Islands.- Chief judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has approved a request by Imperial Pacific International (IPI) for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing allowing an interim withdrawal of US$400,000.

IPI director Howyo Chi said half of the funds will be allocated to pay the Department of Public Lands for the lease of the land where IPI’s complex is situated. The remaining half will be assigned to cover salaries and administrative costs.

The approved US$400,000 interim funding represents a fraction of a US$7m loan IPI recently secured from a Hong Kong-based financing institution with the remaining US$6.6m pending court review on June 21.

Chi told commissioners that IPI plans to allocate the remaining US$6.6m (if approved for DIP financing) to the CCC. He mentioned that US$3m will be allocated to the 2020 payments, and US$3m to the 2024 payments.

IPI currently owes the CNMI over US$62m in licence fees and more than US$17.6m in regulatory fees for the years 2020 through 2023: US$79.6m in total. During a meeting with commissioners, Chi said that IPI wanted to negotiate the reinstatement of its casino licence should it get approval for DIP funding.

However, board chair Edward C. DeLeon Guerrero was sceptical about IPI’s chances of accessing a loan.