“U.S. Alleges Visa Fraud, Criminal Conspiracy at Saipan Casino”, 7 August 2020

U.S. federal prosecutors indicted three people involved with Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd.’s controversial casino project in Saipan for employing undocumented workers, making illegal money transfers, and participating in a criminal conspiracy -- adding to the legal troubles connected to the Hong Kong operator.

Prosecutors allege the trio conspired to illegally hire large numbers of Chinese laborers to work on the casino site, “instructing prospective hires to lie to immigration inspectors” on arrival by claiming they were tourists. The defendants -- Liwen Wu, Jianmin Xu, and Yan Shi -- were employed either by Imperial Pacific or MCC International Saipan Ltd., a Chinese construction company that was helping to build a massive gaming resort in Saipan…

The charges unsealed this week are the latest legal challenge confronting Imperial Pacific’s business in Saipan… Imperial Pacific and Metallurgical Corp. of China Ltd., which is one of China’s biggest state-owned construction businesses and owned the subsidiary unit in Saipan, are not accused of wrongdoing in the legal filing…

A lawyer for Imperial Pacific said he was unable to comment on the company’s behalf, while listed numbers for the company are no longer in use or have been disconnected. MCC didn’t respond to requests for comment…