Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited ( is a Chinese investment

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

. It was founded with headquarters in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and originally named First Natural Foods Holdings until it was renamed in May 2014. It is majority owned by Cui Lijie through her investment vehicle Inventive Star Limited.

History

First Natural Foods was first listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 11 February 2002. It was principally involved most aspects of the food business, including frozen and functional food products. Trading for the group was suspended on 15 December 2008 and

provisional liquidator Provisional liquidation is a process which exists as part of the corporate insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions whereby after the lodging of a petition for the winding-up of a company by the court, but before the court hears ...

s were appointed on 7 January 2009 for restructuring. The liquidators were discharged on 4 September 2012 and trade sharing resumed the following day. In 2013, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) took the company's founder and former chairman Yeung Chung-lung to court for alleged embezzlement. The SFC accused him of withdrawing HK$84 million from its account in December 2008. In December 2013, First Natural Foods announced that it would buy the

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

-based junket operator Hengsheng for HK$400 million. In 2013, First Natural Foods reported a profit of only 1.25 million. In March 2016, Imperial Pacific announced that it would sell its non-gaming subsidiaries to focus on its gaming businesses. In August 2016, Imperial Pacific reported that it had a half-year net profit of HK$837.3 million (US$108 million). Imperial Pacific was Trump inaugural Gala sponsor. In 2017, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) raided the construction site of Imperial Pacific's casino in Saipan over a "federal violation of the workplace visa system" following the death of a construction worker in March 2017. Construction workers from a subsidiary of state-owned

China Metallurgical Group Corporation China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC, ), is a Chinese state-owned enterprise headquartered in Beijing, engaged in EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction), natural resources exploitation, papermaking, equipment fabrication, rea ...

were unlawfully employed on the island to build the casino. In April 2017,

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...

reported that the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

was investigating Imperial Pacific for money laundering. The FBI executed search warrants on Imperial Pacific's offices in Saipan again in March 2018. In April 2019, the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...

secured a $3.3 million judgment against Imperial Pacific for wage and overtime violations. In September 2019, the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

filed a lawsuit against Imperial Pacific for sexual harassment and discrimination. In November 2019, the FBI raided the offices of Imperial Pacific for evidence of money laundering and wire fraud, and a federal grand jury subpoenaed the company regarding a corruption probe involving links with Northern Mariana Islands governor

Ralph Torres Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres (born August 6, 1979) is a Northern Marianan politician currently serving as the ninth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since December 29, 2015. He is a Republican from Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern M ...

. In March 2020, Imperial Pacific disclosed that the

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terr ...

was probing it for possible violations of the

Bank Secrecy Act The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, is a U.S. law requiring financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies in detecting and preventing money laun ...

. In June 2020, the Commonwealth Casino Commission of the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

announced that it was seeking to suspend Imperial Pacific's casino license for non-payment of money owed to a community benefit fund.

Best Sunshine International

Best Sunshine, a subsidiary of Imperial Pacific International Holdings, develops and operates casinos, hotels, and restaurants in the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwea ...

(CNMI). , it is reportedly the largest taxpayer in the CNMI, paying US$27.8 million in business gross revenue tax. In August 2014, Imperial Pacific International was granted a 25-year license to build and operate a casino on Saipan with an option to extend the license for another 15 years. Best Sunshine originally planned to spend US$3.14 billion and operate 2,229 hotel room. but increased the budget to US$7.1 billion the following month to accommodate plans to operate more than 4,200 hotel rooms and 1,600 gaming tables. Imperial Pacific raised US$99.8 million in December 2014 to fund these projects. Best Sunshine had a soft opening for a temporary casino with six

Baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

tables in July 2015. This casino, named Best Sunshine Live cost US$25 million to build. It is located in Saipan's DFS T-Galleria Mall. In May 2016, Best Sunshine started targeting residents and tourists of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

by offering

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

s between the two islands. The Best Sunshine Live casino opened on 31 March 2017, though construction for the attached resort continued. The main casino, named Grand Mariana Casino Hotel and Resort was constructed in

Garapan Garapan ( Old Japanese name: 柄帆町, ''Garapan-chō'') is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island of Saipan, which is a part of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Garapan, as ...

in 2016 and 2017. During this time, the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality (BECQ) gave Best Sunshine multiple fines for discharging wastewater into Garapan's lagoon and violating work hour constraints. Ancient human remains were discovered on the construction site, which will be re-interred some time after construction is finished. The main casino was originally scheduled to open in December 2016 and expected to cost US$550 million. The resort's casino had a

soft opening A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it widely ...

on 6 July 2017. On 23 March 2017, one of Imperial Pacific's Chinese construction workers fell off a scaffold and died. This led the FBI to search one of Imperial Pacific's offices and make an arrest. On 15 February 2018, ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' published an investigative report on the circumstances surrounding the death of this construction worker. An attorney for the Torres Brothers law firm which represented this worker said the report omitted several facts about the case. Imperial Pacific disputed all allegations of wrongdoing and sued Bloomberg for defamation. The FBI and

U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

investigated the case and charged five individuals with harboring undocumented workers. After

Typhoon Yutu Typhoon Yutu, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Rosita, was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that caused catastrophic destruction on the islands of Tinian and Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, and later impacted the Philippi ...

, Imperial Pacific opened its Saipan casino with limited operations from 2–15 November 2018. Citing damages from the typhoon, Imperial Pacific shut down this casino from 16 to 18 November, and then resumed operations.

References

External links

* {{Official website Conglomerate companies of Hong Kong Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Companies based in Fujian Food and drink companies of China Gambling companies of Macau Tourist attractions in the Northern Mariana Islands Chinese companies established in 2002 Food and drink companies established in 2002