Chief Bankruptcy Judge Robert J. Faris from the District of Hawaii has been appointed to preside over the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Northern Mariana Islands.- Chief judge\u00a0Ramona V. Manglona<\/strong> of the District Court for the NMI\u00a0has recused herself from presiding over Imperial Pacific International (IPI)\u2019s bankruptcy proceedings due to a conflict of interest after her brother-in-law, Thomas A. Manglona<\/a>, was confirmed\u00a0<\/strong>as a member of the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC). District by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals chief judge Mary Murguia <\/strong>has appointed chief bankruptcy judge Robert J. Faris<\/strong> from the District of Hawaii in her place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A former port manager in Rota, Thomas Manglona\u00a0<\/strong>was nominated to join the CCC by governor\u00a0Arnold I. Palacios<\/strong> a month ago. He filled the seat vacated by Martin Mendiola,\u00a0whose term ended on April 30<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u00a0has recused himself from proceedings to serve as an advocate for the petitioner, CCC executive director\u00a0Andrew Yeom,\u00a0<\/strong>who filed a complaint against IPI for its failure to pay the casino licence and regulatory fees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The CCC needs the federal court to lift the automatic stay on the revocation hearing following the\u00a0Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition<\/a>\u00a0filed by IPI earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chief judge Ramona V. Manglona<\/strong> denied IPI\u2019s bid to sell its unfinished Garapan hotel casino and real estate assets<\/a>. Manglona also turned down IPI\u2019s request to employ Keen-Summit Capital Partners to promote IPI\u2019s property.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCourt rejects IPI assets sale plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n