The CNMI\u2019s only operating casino could face civil penalties and the loss of its driving revenue\u2014the casino\u2014with the cancellation or suspension of its casino license if it continues to refuse to submit required documents to the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission.<\/p>\n
Lucia Blanco-Maratita, executive director for the commission, said that Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino needs to submit audits every year\u2014something they haven\u2019t done since 2007.<\/p>\n
Section 28 of the Tinian Gaming Act enumerates the grounds for cancellation or suspension of a casino license. These include violating the Act, being convicted of an offense, failing to comply with any terms or conditions of the agreement, refusing or failing to comply with any direction given in writing by the commission\u2019s executive director, failure to supply information required under the Act, and\/or failure to discharge financial commitments, becoming bankrupt, or taking advantages of the laws force.<\/p>\n
Blanco-Maratita said that Tinian Dynasty\u2019s owner, Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments Ltd., and majority shareholder, Mega Stars Overseas Ltd., are responsible for the casino hotel\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir new owners have to submit to suitability investigations; they have not because they refuse to submit remaining requested documentations, which have a bearing on their suitability,\u201d Blanco-Maratita said. \u201cWe cannot complete their license application process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under Section 17 of the Tinian Gaming Act, the suitability of a casino licensee and other persons must be investigated to see if they are suitable persons to be associated or connected with the management and operations of a hotel-casino complex or casino.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Gaming Act requires anyone who wants to operate or invest in a casino to be licensed, to be investigated to determine whether that person is suitable in terms of his honesty, integrity, financial stability, sound and stable background information\u2014meaning no ties to undesirables,\u201d Blanco-Maratita said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Mega Stars submitted its application and an initial investigative fee deposit, they have not submitted all the necessary information being requested, regusing to pay required fees when required to do so, and just plain refusal to cooperate,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
When Mega Stars first came to Tinian in July 2013, TCGCC told them that they had to apply to be found suitable before investing. Maratita said that since then, Mega Stars has been resisting the gaming commission.<\/p>\n
Mega Stars also applied for the exclusive casino license on Saipan, eventually losing the bid to Best Sunshine International, Ltd.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are refusing to cooperate with the commission, allows unlicensed persons to work, refusing to supply information that have been requested, to pay required fess. It seems there\u2019s a culture of non-compliance and non-cooperation with regulatory authorities,\u201d Maratita said.<\/p>\n
She said they could faces charges that includes penalties for violation of the Act up to $20,000 and from $1,000 up to $50,000 for other violations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny entity that wants to enter into the gaming industry must comply with the Tinian Gaming Act, there is no other choice. It is not enough for a business to get a CNMI business license to be able to provide services to the casino or operate a casino or work in the complex. They must also apply to the commission to be found suitable. Suitability is the cornerstone of anyone desiring to do business in the casino industry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The CNMI\u2019s only operating casino could face civil penalties and the loss of its driving…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1707,56,1583,1253],"class_list":["post-201901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-best-sunshine-international","tag-business-3","tag-tcgcc","tag-tinian-gaming-act"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}