Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas hopes the $75 million worth of fines that is keeping the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino from resuming operations is resolved soon. <\/p>\n
The Tinian Dynasty shut down in 2015 because it didn\u2019t have enough funds to continue operations, a decline in room occupancy rates, and multiple other reasons. <\/p>\n
According to Saipan Tribune archives, soon after shutting down, Tinian Dynasty was fined $75 million by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for \u201cwillful and egregious violations\u201d of the Bank Secrecy Act.<\/p>\n
San Nicolas does not know who will pay that fine or if it will even be paid at all. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know that we have investors interested in the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino but I don\u2019t know where they are and how far they have negotiated with the owners. But anybody who is interested has to deal with the $75-million assessment by FinCen,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He is hoping for a resolution of the matter but, at this point, there seems to be none. <\/p>\n
San Nicolas said it is a matter of negotiations between the government and the Hong Kong Entertainment (Overseas) Investments Ltd. \u201cI think the owners and the government need to really sit down and negotiate a plan on how to resolve the FinCen matter and how to renovate the building,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
San Nicolas said that he doesn\u2019t want to see the Tinian Dynasty & Casino remain inactive but the fine is a definite barrier. <\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly don\u2019t want it to just remain idle forever. I don\u2019t think anybody wants that but the fact of the matter is that there is an existing assessment on the company,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Hong Kong Entertainment owns the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino. Its majority shareholder is Mega Stars Overseas Ltd. <\/p>\n
As it stands, the building has been unused. There has been no hotel or casino operation on Tinian since 2016. <\/p>\n
A visit by the Saipan Tribune showed that the hotel and casino is still heavily guarded by Hong Kong Entertainment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s to prevent heavy vandalism or any trespassing, that\u2019s why they still have security there,\u201d said San Nicolas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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