{"id":270710,"date":"2018-02-23T06:06:23","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T20:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=270710"},"modified":"2018-02-23T06:06:23","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T20:06:23","slug":"ipi-pursue-legal-action-ccc-weighing-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/ipi-pursue-legal-action-ccc-weighing-options\/","title":{"rendered":"IPI to pursue legal action; CCC weighing its options"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Commonwealth Casino Commission chair Juan Sablan gets emotional as he delivers a statement on the Bloomberg piece alleging corruption. (Erwin Encinares)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC intends to pursue legal action against Bloomberg for a magazine article on the grounds of defamation, while the Commonwealth Casino Commission discussed in an executive session possible legal action as well.<\/p>\n

In Bloomberg Businessweek\u2019s Feb. 15, 2018, article, \u201cA Chinese Casino Has Conquered a Piece of America,\u201d it alleged that IPI has flouted rules in doing business in the CNMI and has had improper relationships with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and several of his family members,<\/p>\n

IPI released a statement Wednesday evening that it is planning to pursue legal action against the magazine publisher.<\/p>\n

Separately, the Commonwealth Casino Commission discussed yesterday possible legal actions against the magazine during its open meeting and in an executive session, which is usually not open to the public.<\/p>\n

Before Saipan Tribune left the meeting yesterday, an emotional commission chair Juan Sablan denied the article\u2019s corruption allegation. \u201cWe are doing our job.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sablan, who appeared to be fighting back tears, said: \u201cThe commission is not corrupted. We never received any money. \u2026If you have doubt[s], come to the meetings because at every meeting, we question IPI on every detail.\u201d <\/p>\n

He insists that the commission regularly reviews and strengthens regulations to make sure \u201cIPI complies with the best interest of the Commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview yesterday, Torres told Saipan Tribune that he has yet to consider pursuing legal actions against the magazine, while his brother, Victor Torres, said, \u201cNo comment on those issues and no comment on the firm.\u201d Victor Torres is one of three brothers of the governor at the family run Torres Brothers law firm, which the magazine article claims to have benefited from IPI.<\/p>\n

The governor also declined to comment on IPI\u2019s decision to sue.<\/p>\n

In yesterday\u2019s commission meeting, executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero, said the magazine has its own agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not politicians; we are regulators\u2026We do not participate in [politics],\u201d said Deleon Guerrero. \u201cMost people who understand the national scene know that Bloomberg is a far-left organization. \u2026If you\u2019re a Republican, you are not a friend of Bloomberg. If you are a friend of [U.S. President Donald J. Trump], you are not a friend of Bloomberg,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince IPI opened, they have been the low-hanging fruit that is easy to pick, easy to criticize,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The article mentions that politics in the CNMI is \u201cdominated by two prominent families, one of them the Deleon Guerreros.\u201d It later mentions that the CCC executive director is Gov. Torres\u2019 uncle, and that Gov. Torres\u2019 former chief of staff turned executive adviser to the governor is Deleon Guerrero\u2019s son, Matt Deleon Guerrero.<\/p>\n

In response, Deleon Guerrero pointed out that he has been executive director of the casino commission before Gov. Torres took office in late 2015. He also noted that the commissioners\u2014chair Juan Sablan, vice chair Joseph Reyes, Alvaro Santos, Martin San Nicolas, and Justin Manglona\u2014are all appointees of the late governor Eloy S. Inos, who was Gov. Torres\u2019 predecessor.<\/p>\n

Matt Deleon Guerrero has been Gov. Torres\u2019 chief of staff since the latter was still the lieutenant governor of Inos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC intends to pursue legal action against Bloomberg for a magazine…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":270714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[3126,3339,12497,3186],"class_list":["post-270710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-commonwealth-casino-commission","tag-edward-deleon-guerrero","tag-ipi","tag-juan-sablan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270710","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=270710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}