After Imperial Pacific’s stock prices took a hit following a series of articles including one by Bloomberg claiming that the casino’s incoming ‘volumes of cash are drawing the attention of law enforcement officials’ the operation has been cleared by the archipelago’s Commonwealth Casino Commission executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero.
Guerrero notes that Best Sunshine International, operator of Imperial Pacific’s Saipan casino, complies with federal laws under title 31 of the Banking Secrecy Act, used to assist United States Government agencies detect and prevent money laundering activities, as reported by the Saipan Tribune.
Guerrero’s comments came after reports stated that the group’s gaming tables were almost empty. Guerrero did not state whether the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an agency under the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is investigating Best Sunshine.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that (Imperial Pacific/Best Sunshine) is under FinCEN investigation. (The agency) does not usually inform those whom they are investigating and we’re not aware of a special investigation,” Guerrero told the publication.
“It is not as if they’ve done something wrong,” said Guerrero, (Best Sunshine) is submitting its reports to (the agency).”
Impact
Given the amounts of money flowing through the casino, with October’s rolling chip amounting to US$3.8 billion (MOP30.4 billion) according to Imperial Pacific’s Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, investigation is normal. For those complying with the rules, “you don’t need to be alarmed . . . [as[ . . . for the casino to die the quickest way is to violate the AML laws. FinCEN enforces the laws,” Guerro continued.
Regarding the Bloomberg article, Guerrero notes that “If Best Sunshine Live inside a temporary casino inside a mall can outpace and outperform big name casinos it’s purely business. It is bad for competitors and it appears its business rivalry […] I can tell you the numbers are real. We are watching, documenting, and tracking it.”
The archipelago’s casino commission has announced plans to visit Imperial Pacific’s construction site for the Grand Mariana resort, set to open doors in early 2017. Guerrero will join the visit, and told Saipan Tribune his understanding of the opening schedule.
“My understanding is the casino portion will open first; then the first and second floors including three restaurants so they could offer service to the players, VIPs and other high rollers,” he told the publication. However the project has to stick to a deadline, notes Guerrero, adding “the entire hotel needs to open by August because there is a time frame that is stated on the licensee agreement.”
