Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited investor offloads shares

Billionaire Chinese businesswoman Cui Li Jie has reportedly offloaded 1.54% of her stake in besieged casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited after a steep decline in its share price triggered margin finance enforcement action.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the 61-year-old also serves as Chairman for the Hong Kong-listed firm behind the as yet unfinished Imperial Palace Saipan development and recently sold some 2,204,600,000 of its shares via a pair of transactions conducted by her Inventive Star investments vehicle to take her controlling stake down to 61.93%.

Plunging price:

Cui made the move in order to shore up confidence in Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited after the value of the company’s shares fell by almost 66% in the week from August 2 to be individually worth only around one-tenth of a penny. The source detailed that the Hong Kong-headquartered firm’s shares had each been valued at around $0.013 as recently as January 9 after reaching an all-time high of nearly five cents in mid-2015.

Disturbing dispute:

The offloading moreover reportedly came only days after a pair of Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited’s senior executives were indicted on federal charges in the United States concerning allegations that they had helped a contractor to illegally import Chinese nationals for the purposes of helping to construct the partially-opened Imperial Palace Saipan. The action from the United States District Court for the Northern Marianas Islands purportedly contends that defendants Jianmen Xu and Liwen ‘Peter’ Wu violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and engaged in money laundering by assisting MCC International Saipan Limited in unlawfully harboring and employing illicit workers.

Cash concerns:

Although this impressive facility on the island of Saipan began welcoming gamblers to enjoy a selection of some 350 slots and 200 gaming tables in July of 2017, work on its adjacent 14-story hotel has been stalled for months amid allegations that Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited still owes former contractor Pacific Rim Land Development some $6.8 million. This matter is currently winding its way through the legal process although the American territory’s Commonwealth Casino Commission recently warned the casino firm that its license was at risk if it did not start honoring its financial obligations to private vendors and the local government.