Saipan casino gets hotel extension, axes builders

Imperial Pacific International Holdings’ Saipan casino got a lengthy extension for completing its long delayed hotel in the US Pacific territory. The Hong Kong listed company with its roots in junket promoter Heng Sheng promptly laid off 80 construction workers, the latest turn in this twisted tale.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Saipan billionaire casino owner doubles down

Imperial Pacific International’s casino in US Pacific Territory Saipan has reported more player debt than revenue and faces an August deadline to finish its beachfront hotel. Its shares have fallen by a third over the past year, and majority owner Cui Lijie lost her place of Forbes Asia’s Hong Kong Rich List. Nevertheless, Cui has bought another 119 million more shares this year.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

‘Barefoot Doctor’ turns Saipan casino billionaire

In a journey from China’s countryside to an American speck in the middle of the Pacific, Cui Lijie has become a billionaire as majority owner of US territory Saipan’s casino through Hong Kong listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.