IPI files FOI request on use of $3M casino regulatory fee

Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC director Howyo Chi has filed a Freedom of Information request with the Commonwealth Casino Commission so it could look into how IPI’s $3-million annual casino regulatory fees were being spent.

Chi made the request last Nov. 19 for documents related to the collection and expenditures of the casino regulatory fee and CCC received it the following day. CCC board chair Edward C. DeLeon Guerrero responded last Thursday to the request in a letter with attached documents.

Chi stated that they are specifically requesting for documents related to the collection and expenditures of the casino regulatory fee since the start. Among the information sought includes detailed records of the collection of regulatory fees from IPI or any other casino licensee, specifying the amounts paid per year since the establishment of the fee requirement.

IPI sought comprehensive expenditure records delineating the allocation and use of the regulatory fees collected by the CCC, specifying the nature of expenses, disbursements, and the purposes for which these funds have been utilized.

IPI also requested for any reports, financial statements, or documentation demonstrating how CCC appropriated and spent the regulatory fees.

In CCC’s response letter that DeLeon Guerrero handed Chi last Thursday, the attached documents include CCC’s Annual Citizen-Centric Reports showing the regulatory fees received from IPI from fiscal years 2018 through 2020. IPI did not pay the fee from fiscal years 2021 through 2024, DeLeon Guerrero said.

CCC provided its fund status report for fiscal year 2016 and ending on fiscal year 2022, showing the detailed expense accounts (expenditures).

CCC also wrote Finance Secretary Tracy B. Norita separately to request the Department of Finance for revenue and expense information related to the CCC’s procurement, payroll, and other expenditures of regulatory funds. To date, he said, Finance has not responded to their request.

The chairman noted that the documents he provided to Chi are those in the custody of the CCC members.

He said IPI can submit an Open Government Act to Finance who has access to CCC’s expenditures and has the staff to compile those documents.

During Thursday’s board meeting, DeLeon Guerrero said the $3.15 million regulatory fee is the fee that CCC assesses for due diligence for key employee licensing and the gaming equipment. This is also the source of the CCC’s budget and has not been paid by IPI since 2020 until now.

CCC receives only $1 a year from the CNMI government.

DeLeon Guerrero said that IPI now owes the CCC $12.6 million in unpaid annual regulatory fee and this has caused the termination of all CCC employees.

Including the annual casino license fee and penalties for non-compliance with the CCC’s mandates, IPI now owes CCC and the CNMI government over $70 million.