After Mark Brown abruptly resigned this weekend, Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) is looking for a new CEO.
On Tuesday, Brown had sent an email to the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) on Sunday informing he was leaving his role as IPI’s chief executive, effective immediately. Edward Deleon Guerrero, CCC exec director, said IPI’s search for Brown’s replacement was already in progress.
Deleon Guerrero said he wasn’t allowed to reveal the reason behind Brown’s resignation. Brown did not show up at the CCC’s monthly meeting last month, leading CCC chair Juan Sablan to gripe that the CCC might “need to subpoena” Brown to confirm his attendance.
As reported by Calvinayre.com, Brown was IPI’s original CEO but left the position to become IPI’s chairman early 2017. Brown left the company completely one year later to “pursue other projects close to his family” on the US mainland, only to come back in late 2018 as interim chairman and resume the CEO role too eventually.
Brown’s most recent departure comes only one month after FBI agents raided IPI’s offices as part of a federal investigation into supposed wire fraud, money laundering and illegal campaign contributions associated with Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Gov. Ralph Torres.
Brown isn’t the only senior IPI figure who has announced his departure recently. IPI’s general counsel Philip Tydingco announced Last week,that December 13th would be the day he would resign. Local media announced this week, that Tyndigco’s post would be filled by Joey Patrick San Nicolas, who worked as CNMI attorney general from 2012 to 2014.
Apart from its legal woes, IPI continues to strive to complete its Imperial Palace Resort amid unending labor shortages and fights with the workers it does have. Also, the financially struggling operator has been accused of shortchanging the CNMI government by unilaterally claiming ‘credits’ which exceeded what little tax IPI’s license necessitates it to remit.
