Both Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC have belied the allegations raised in a Bloomberg article about the casino industry in the CNMI, with the governor describing them as blatantly false. The casino operator assured that it obeys all laws and regulations of the CNMI and the United States. <\/p>\n
In a statement on Friday, Torres denied any illegal activity with IPI and that allegations contained in the story are from the perspective of an \u201coff-island writer from London with limited exposure to our people, culture, history, and beauty of the CNMI.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a separate statement on Sunday, IPI said it repudiates all allegations of wrongdoing cited in the article.<\/p>\n
According to the Bloomberg Businessweek piece published on Feb. 15, 2018, titled, \u201cA Chinese Casino Has Conquered a Piece of America,\u201d it said, among other things, that \u201cin the first eight months of 2017, according to the regulators\u2019 records, Imperial Pacific paid Torres Brothers $126,000.\u201d One transaction, according to the article, said a relative of the governor received a payoff of $4 million at one time.<\/p>\n
Torres Brothers refers to the law office of the governor\u2019s brothers, composed of Vincent, Victorino, and Joaquin. Torres also used to work there as office manager before going into politics. <\/p>\n
In his statement, Torres said: \u201cAny allegations contained within this story are blatantly false and are apparently perpetuated by individuals who hold a minority opinion, aiming to score cheap political points at the expense of our islands\u2019 image in the world stage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a separate interview Friday, Torres belied the allegation that all of IPI\u2019s requests were granted by his administration.<\/p>\n
According to Torres, he used his power to line-item veto part of the bill that was supposed to exempt IPI from a particular tax, allowing him to veto just a part of the bill instead of the whole bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a bill that I line-item vetoed and that was the $3-million tax waiver for Best Sunshine. They say 100 percent. Then why did I line item vetoed a $3-million tax exempt? Why is Best Sunshine not exempt from excise tax?\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n
Torres expects more allegations against him to pop up in the months to come as it is election year. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to say they [the government] are all corrupt. \u2026Yes, I am running for governor and the target is me, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
The governor also denied going on trips to Hong Kong for IPI and that he is on IPI\u2019s payroll.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s ridiculous. \u2026I would like to see a contract where I am on [the IPI] payroll\u2026 trips to Hong Kong for IPI did not happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to hide. Everything they want to find out is there. Whatever they need to ask or question it\u2019s obviously there.\u201d <\/p>\n
Notably, the author of the Bloomberg article made minimum mention of Torres\u2019 side in the article. According to Torres, he met with Matthew Campbell, the writer of the piece, back in September 2016 to answer questions \u201cseveral weeks leading up to the story\u2019s publication\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe submitted an [eight]-page response to the writer\u2019s questions, clarifying the numerous allegations made against me, my administration, and my family. However, our responses were not fully included into the overall story,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe story pays no attention to the pain our families felt during the economic downturn, or the sacrifices our retirees, our elderly, and our families had to make, and it does not speak to the many jobs we have created or how the lives in our community are better now than they were during the dark days of our economy. The one-sided sources and selective interviews in this story just showcase that this is truly an election year, and some would rather tarnish our islands for their own self-promotions. It is unfortunate, but we will continue pushing forward for progress in our islands and for a better future for every single person who calls these islands home,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The administration did not respond to a question if it plans to pursue legal action against Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
The Governor\u2019s Office did provide Saipan Tribune with responses to questions brought up in the article, such as the string of transactions related to Torres\u2019 family members.<\/p>\n
The governor said that implying land purchases from relatives of CNMI public officials \u201clacks an understanding of the size of the CNMI and that many public officials have extended families.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the administration response, the governor has 70 first cousins and that his mother was one of 13 children.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy looking at select transactions, this question overlooks that nearly all landowners on Saipan have had transactions with [IPI], primarily because land ownership remains with those of Northern Mariana descent and that land is limited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Torres said generally the same thing in a separate interview on Friday. He pointed out that the CNMI is small \u201cIPI] came to purchase one of my sister-in-law\u2019s properties, just like I\u2019m sure a lot of folks sell or lease their properties,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026All of the questions were focused on myself and my whole family. Why don\u2019t we look at others, on how much they make and how many properties they have sold in the CNMI? Now you single out one property that was purchased by Best Sunshine versus the hundred properties that have been purchased by other companies.\u201d <\/p>\n
IPI statement<\/p>\n
IPI, in a statement, assured that it strives for \u201cnothing less than full compliance with all laws and regulations of the CNMI and the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n
It also pointed out that Bloomberg has a beef with IPI.<\/p>\n
\u201cImperial Pacific believes that the article is just another enumeration of false claims similar to other similar Bloomberg articles involving Imperial Pacific. It is apparent that the article was written to negatively attack Imperial Pacific, its owners and agents, the Commonwealth Casino Commission, the CNMI government and its leaders, and individual members of the CNMI community,\u201d said the statement, adding that they have \u201cremain steadfast\u201d in meeting its obligations to the development of the gaming and resort industries in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
It accused Bloomberg of merely undermining confidence in the CNMI\u2019s casino gaming industry and, although it did not rule out any legal action, IPI did not say anything about going to court over the article.<\/p>\n
Kilili: Investigation needed<\/p>\n
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) described the article\u2019s allegations as \u201cextremely serious.\u201d Sablan believes federal law enforcerst, the Attorney General, and the Office of the Public Auditor should investigate because \u201cthe people of the Mariana Islands deserve to know the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026the governor, his family, and other public officials named in this article deserve an opportunity to clear their names,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Rep. Edwin K. Propst (Ind-Saipan), who was also quoted in the story, said he stands by what he told the reporter a few months back.<\/p>\n
The story quoted Propst as saying, \u201c\u2018I believe that Imperial Pacific runs this government. \u2026Any legislation they\u2019ve ever wanted goes their way 100 percent of the time. Not 99 percent of the time. One hundred.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with Saipan Tribune, Propst said that he still believes the situation to be so.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook to every legislation that has benefitted the casino. We\u2019ve had opportunities to either tax them or to assess new fees, but we never do it,\u201d he said, adding that taxes and fees must have been in place from the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our failure to plan that consistently gets us into these problems that we\u2019re dealing with and it\u2019s frustrating to see that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Propst, anytime discussions are brought up on taxing the casino, \u201cit\u2019s thrown out the window; we can\u2019t touch it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to look at getting a better deal for our people,\u201d Propst added. <\/p>\n
When asked who he thinks is behind the bad press, Torres said, \u201cI definitely don\u2019t want to accuse people. I, for one, have been accused of so many things that I didn\u2019t do so I don\u2019t want to accuse anybody. Whoever is doing it and whatever it is, it\u2019s freedom of press,\u201d said Torres.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be more allegations this year. It\u2019s political year and whatever it is that they want to find out, everything is open book,\u201d he added. (With Bea Cabrera)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Both Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC have belied the allegations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[26,3126,1091,12497],"class_list":["post-270369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","tag-cnmi","tag-commonwealth-casino-commission","tag-imperial-pacific","tag-ipi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270369","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\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}