It argues that the payment would be against the law.
Northern Mariana Islands.- Finance secretary Tracy B. Norita has said the attorney general’s office has told the Department of Finance not to remit the backpay of members of the Commonwealth Casino Commission. In February, CCC chairman Edward C. Deleon Guerrero claimed that the government owed US$291,666 in outstanding payments to commissioners.
Norita said payment cannot be made as the funding is contrary to the law since members of the CCC are not employees of the government and so paying them public funds cannot be seen as serving the public interest. She said public law 24-1 Schedule A changes the personnel funding for the CCC to zero. Norita emphasised that casino fees were created to pay commissioners so taxpayers did not have to.
The CCC has been without income since the closure of Imperial Pacific International (IPI), which halted casino operations in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the CCC has not collected its annual regulatory fee of US$3.15m, leading to 50 layoffs.
Team King Investment has been named the winning bidder of the auction of Imperial Pacific International’s (IPI) casino assets. It submitted a bid of US$12.95m plus an option to acquire the casino licence and assume certain liabilities.
