Imperial Pacific Reports $32 Billion Saipan Casino VIP Turnover 2016

Hong Kong-listed casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd, which operates a casino on the Pacific island of Saipan has announced that its unaudited VIP table games rolling chip turnover for 2016 was around $32.37 billion.

The casino opened in 2015 and is currently operating in temporary premises while its permanent facility is being developed.

Saipan is the main island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) which falls under U.S. jurisdiction.

In a statement, Imperial Pacific said,

The actual gain or loss of the temporary casino will be determined after the review by the company’s auditors upon finalization of the consolidated financial statements of the group.

Imperial Pacific’s VIP gaming turnover reported for 2016 is higher than that reported for one of Macau’s major casinos the Venetian Macao, the flagship facility of Sands China Ltd in 2015 as well as for the Wynn Macau which reported VIP gaming turnover of HKD449.02 billion ($57.89 billion at latest exchange rates) in 2015.

Imperial Pacific Resort

Best Sunshine Live the gaming facility operated by Imperial’s subsidiary in Saipan is the sole casino on the island and has been reporting extremely strong VIP gaming performance since its launch. A recent report has indicated that the U.S. financial regulatory body Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN has launched a probe to examine if money laundering is occurring in the casino.

An executive of Imperial Pacific denied it saying that the casino was complying with all rules under U.S. law. However a lawsuit filed by an executive who was fired by its subsidiary Best Sunshine alleges presence of several illegal practices in the casino. Imperial Pacific has said that it would be defending itself and its business practices.

The casino’s permanent address will be the $7 billion integrated casino resort Grand Mariana Casino & Hotel Resort, which is currently under construction. The first phase of the project will have a 350-suite hotel and a gaming space featuring 200 to 300 tables and around 300 or 400 slot machines. The project has a total of five phases planned according to earlier reports.

Initially, the project was to see a Chinese New Year opening which falls on 28 January 2017, but that is unlikely now. In a recent filing made by the company to the Hong Kong stock exchange the casino is now slated to open sometime in the first quarter of 2017. The filing stated that construction was progressing rapidly with over 2,000 workers working non-stop on the facility.