Saipan casino to reopen at last

Operations are to resume at last at the Imperial Palace on the Pacific Island of Saipan after licensing problems, reports the Saipan Tribune.

The newspaper said that the operator, Imperial Pacific, had reported that it had successfully obtained a restraining order preventing the hearing into the potential revocation of its licence.

A US District Court granted the restraining order, deciding that revoking the licence would need a major capital infusion for the Commonwealth Casino Commission. 

Imperial said that it expected to receive $150m in funding before the end of the month that it planned to use to repay money owed to the commission.

It was the third time that the licence revocation had been delayed. It was originally scheduled for March and then earlier this month.

The licence was originally suspended last year for failure to comply with conditions of its agreement. It had failed to pay the annual $15.5m licence fee and other fees. The venue had been closed for over a year due to the pandemic.