Attorney Claimed IPI CEO Donald Browne Must Be Locked Up

Article by : Helen Dec 23, 2020

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Updated: Dec 21, 2021

Some Imperial Pacific International employees have filed a lawsuit and Aaron Halegua, an advocate who is representing the interests of construction employees in the court, claims that the company’s CEO doesn’t comply with the court rulings. In addition, Aaron Halegua said Donald Browne must be locked up, and he is confident the prison sentence is justified. It has been reported several times that the company doesn’t duly fulfill its obligations at Imperial Palace casino in Saipan, and it has some difficulties in covering the financial liabilities. Currently, Halegua is supported by one of the judges of the judicial system in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). CCC Chairman Edward DeLeon Guerrero said: “IPI needs to fulfill its obligations, not only to the people of the CNMI, but also to their employees, vendors, and other parties who are contracted to work with their organization.”

Earlier this year, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona found the company in contempt of court for breaking her orders. At the beginning of December, she requested a letter from the company where IPI has to give reasons why not to find Browne in contempt of court. There were a lot of cases when the company hadn’t paid out employees’ payments, fees for licenses, and other obligatory payments. Regulators and courts have repeatedly called out Imperial Pacific International as far as the company was obliged to pay more than $93,000 for lawyers’ fees in August. The company was initially given one month for complying with its commitments, but this term was extended for one more month until October 24.

Unfortunately, the company hasn’t met its obligations yet. The court claimed that it is necessary to liquidate the IPI’s assets in the CNMI to satisfy the company’s debts. Moreover, IPI won’t receive any postponements anymore.

Manglona said in case Imperial Pacific International doesn’t produce evidence of debt repayment, US Marshals have the right to imprison Browne for a week. Perhaps the court will charge the CEO $500 for each day the lawyers haven’t received their payments. “In other words, monetary sanctions against IPI have proven insufficient to compel its directors and executives to take the steps necessary to comply with the orders of the court,” added Manglona.

Donald Browne had been a senior vice president for Security and Surveillance, but in July, he was appointed for Chief Executive Officer’s position. In its memorandum, IPI noted that Browne is “a well-regarded leader of IPI with decades of gaming experiences,” and he is able to take the company “to the next level of growth and development under a reorganized structure.” Taking into account the current situation in the company, Donald Browne might not be happy he is holding this post.

Pacific Rim, a construction contractor of IPI, had previously filed a lawsuit. Pacific Rim blamed IPI for breaching of contract, meaning it didn’t pay $5.65 million for services. IPI, in turn, claimed that Pacific Rim overestimated the costs for constructing the IPI hotel-casino project in Garapan.

Pacific Rim fraudulently obtained from IPI a promissory note, which is therefore unenforceable.

And the company also added that Pacific Rim didn’t adhere to the terms and conditions of their contract, which require mediation before filing a lawsuit. However, Chief Judge Ramona denied the IPI’s actions to dismiss the construction’s lawsuit, and IPI was also charged with costs for judicial proceedings and advocates’ fees. The constructor has alleged in October that IPI needs to sell a part of its assets to pay off debts.