Inside Asian Gaming

IAG SEP 2020年9月 亞博匯 66 IN FOCUS F ive years after opening a casino in a shopping mall in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that reported greater rolling volumes than Cotai VIP operations, Imperial Pacific International has built a stunning track record of losses, unpaid bills, broken lives and broken promises. IPI’s new Saipan CEO Donald Browne aims to change that. “We refuse to allow past events to distract or derail us in our quest to complete the hotel and its many amenities,” Browne says. A longtime associate of his predecessor Mark Brown, Browne was named CEO on 17 July under pressure from regulators in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory best known as a World War II battlefront. “This is a huge investment not just in a monetary sense, but also in the thousands of hours spent on perfecting processes, training and initiating best practices, to ensure that when we open the hotel component we will not disappoint our guests. We are in the process of rebuilding our organizational structure which will assist to streamline processes and communication flow, create efficiencies and better decision making.” Browne is confident he can address a US Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) investigation into apparent violations dating back to October 2016. A record US$75 million FinCEN fine in 2015 triggered the shutdown of Tinian Dynasty, CNMI’s first casino on the island south of Saipan. As well as FinCEN’s probe, the FBI conducted raids on IPI’s office in November last year, apparently looking into its relationship with Governor Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres and his family. Both investigations continue, raising questions about IPI’s viability, Browne’s confidence notwithstanding.