Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI) may have lost its new general counsel before the legal eagle had actually started working for the company.
On Thursday, the Saipan Tribune reported that IPI’s outgoing general counsel Philip Tyndingco had informed a US District Court that Joey Patrick San Nicolas, who was recently named Tyndingco’s replacement, was now reconsidering whether he wanted the job.
Tyndingco told the court that Nicolas (pictured) had called to express his career doubts just five minutes before Tyndingco was due to attend a hearing of one of IPI’s many ongoing legal battles.
Tyndingco, whose last day as IPI’s general counsel is Friday (13), has already filed paperwork indicating his intention to withdraw from representing IPI in civil suits brought by former laborers, stiffed contractors and female VIP hosts who claim to have suffered sexual harassment on the job.
The apparent change of heart by San Nicolas, a former Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) attorney general, came just days after news broke that IPI CEO Mark Brown had abruptly resigned without any public explanation.
Brown’s resignation came one month after FBI agents raided IPI’s offices and those of CNMI Gov. Ralph Torres as part of an investigation into wire fraud, money laundering and illegal campaign contributions.
On Tuesday, Torres felt compelled to issue a statement decrying a “coordinated attack” by some CNMI legislators who he accused of having an “obsession with taking down a governor that they simply do not like.”
Six independent members of the CNMI House of Representatives have called for the formation of an investigative committee to ascertain how much fire is behind all that smoke currently surrounding Torres.
Also on Tuesday, the House unanimously approved HB21-11, which aims to clarify the powers of the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC). IPI opposes the bill, in part because it would pierce the veil of secrecy that currently guards the company’s financial dealings, including the status of its tax obligations.
IPI doesn’t appear to have too much to worry about, as some lawmakers told the Marianas Variety that HB21-11 would be “dead on arrival” when it got to the CNMI Senate.
