A casino operator in the Northern Marianas, Imperial Pacific International, will be forced to sell off its assets if it fails to pay the more than $US 1.2 million it owes by the beginning of March.
The U.S. District Court for the NMI has ordered the company to pay outstanding wages to 136 former employees from 2016 and 2017.
Inside the Imperial Pacific Casino in Saipan, CNMI. 30 September 2019. Photo: Imperial Pacific Casino
In the event IPI doesn't come up with the funds, a receivership will be set up that will sell off IPI assets.
IPI has so far made a payment of $US233,000 to the U.S. Department of Labor, of which $US36,000 went to underpaid workers.
USDOE also wants IPI to set up an escrow account to cover future payrolls and is looking at an $US800,000 deposit as an acceptable amount to cover two months' worth of payroll.
In addition to the ultimatum against IPI, US. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona Manglona also last week sustained the stop-work order for IPI employees but modified it so that all other departments, except construction workers, could return to work.