Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino’s new investor is finally getting its day in court with the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission (TCGCC).
On Thursday, the commission announced that will conduct a hearing to determine the financial capacity of Tinian Entertainment Co. (TEC) as a casino investor. TCGCC chairwoman Esther Hofschneider Barr told the Marianas Variety that Tinian Entertainment’s application will be reviewed “during a suitability and qualification hearing in March or April.”
However, Barr noted the commission must first receive a report from a casino regulatory consulting firm, tapped to investigate the casino operator’s qualifications and suitability, as well as a recommendation from the TCGCC’s acting executive director Donald Hofschneider before they can proceed with the hearing.
Tinian Entertainment, an affiliate of China-based Chinese Strategic Holdings Ltd., received the ownership and operation control of Hong Kong Entertainment Investments Ltd. (HKE), which owns the F, late last year.
The casino investor, however, didn’t immediately take over the operations of the northern Marianas-based resort after gaming officials announced that it still has to complete “suitability investigations.”
Tinian Entertainment’s proposal was the fourth and last application pending with the commission. The other investors that applied for a casino license in Tinian were Alter City Group and Bridge Investment Group LLC (BIG).
Last month, Alter City Group received its conditional license, which will allow the operator to start the ball rolling with all the requirements needed to build the casino on its proposed site at Puntan Diablo. Alter Casino Group will get its plenary license after it completes the rest of the requirements.
BIG, on the other hand, got its conditional license in December 2005, while two of its principal applicants were approved as corporate qualifiers in February 2015. BIG is building a Titanic-themed casino hotel to be called Tinian Ocean Resort and Casino.
