Imperial Pacific Held in Contempt of Court for Failing to Pay $93K in Fees

Article by : Helen Dec 16, 2020

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Updated: Apr 22, 2022

Imperial Pacific International hasn’t had good publicity in a while, and it’s not going to change today. According to Saipan Tribune, Chief Judge Ramona Manglona of the US District Court for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) found the Imperial Pacific International and its Chief Executive Officer, David Browne, in contempt of court.

In August, the infamous Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands casino operator was ordered by the court to pay $93,000 to seven construction workers that sued the company for “unfair labor practices.” The trial was a gnarly one, for lack of a better word: the plaintiffs accused the construction companies that Imperial Pacific hired to work on its casino project in Saipan of “forcing them to work long hours, paying less than promised (if at all), threatening them, and financially coercing them.” The court sided with the plaintiffs as the casino operator failed to provide case-related documents on multiple occasions.

Yet, even though Imperial Pacific International eventually pleaded guilty during the trial and agreed to pay up, the company didn’t go through with the transaction, citing the lack of money as the main reason. The judge accepted the poverty plea yet ordered Imperial Pacific to make interim payments as soon as they have at least something to pay with.

However, as the plaintiffs later found out, Imperial Pacific was perfectly capable of paying – the company carried out other transactions while simply ignoring the fees the court ordered to provide to the plaintiffs. They filed a complaint with the court. In the decision dated December 2, the judge initially threatened David Browne with fines and jail time as he supposedly authorized the payments while being well-aware the company has court-ordered fees to pay.

The court gave Imperial Pacific International time until December 10 to either present evidence that it’s not as bad as it seems or cover the fees. Two days after that decision, on December 4, the company “managed” to find funds and sent a check to the plaintiffs for the whole sum. This was the only reason David Browne ended up with only being found in contempt and without any fines or incarceration, according to the judge.

It’s hardly the first time Imperial Pacific finds itself amidst controversies when it comes to how it treats its workers. The company’s former subcontractor, the IDS construction company, has recently been accused by its workers of not paying their salaries since September 2020. Imperial Pacific itself also went on record in November this year, saying the company cannot cover its monthly payrolls. Imperial Pacific’s CEO, David Browne, outright stated, “We are in the predicament of having no money to pay people.”

Earlier this year, the ongoing battle between the Imperial Pacific and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Casino Commission seemed to reach its anticlimactic resolution. The casino operator owes $36 million to the Community Benefit Fund, as stated under the casino license agreement – yet, in a familiar move, its top management pleaded poverty and asked for deadline extensions several times. The Commission eventually caved in and extended the deadline five years into the future.

The company had financial troubles even before the pandemic strolled in: Imperial Pacific reported $503 million in losses in 2019 and $380 million in 2018. The main reason behind its struggle to turn a profit could be the reliance on VIP gamblers from mainland China that Imperial Pacific works directly with, without involving junket operators.

Once a VIP gambler loses money in the casino, they leave for mainland China, and it’s nearly impossible to prosecute them for their debt or find a way to make them pay up. So, most of the debts remain unpaid.