Best Sunshine International operates the Best Sunshine Live casino in Saipan Island which belongs to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The company is a subsidiary of Imperial Pacific, which is based out of Hong Kong. Best Sunshine recently announced that if everything goes as per plan, the casino will go ahead with a soft launch on March 31, 2017.
Best Sunshine Live casino has now been operating for a number of months as a temporary casino after its owners secured a temporary license from gaming regulators on the basis that they would use the temporary casinos for training purposes. The temporary casino which is located in the T-Galleria building which is a duty free area has already had great success with its limited number of gaming tables.
Best Sunshine International has tied up with some of the top junket operators in Asia and as a result a continuous flow of VIP gamblers have visited the casino on a regular basis and spent significant amounts of money at the gambling tables. The casino reported that its gross gaming revenue for the temporary casino in 2016 was over $32 billion, making it one of the most lucrative casinos in the world. Best Sunshine International has stated that one of the main reasons for its high revenue is due to a strong VIP gambling market base.
A major percentage of these VIP gamblers come from Mainland China and the company reported that its VIP GGR in January 2017 was over $2.2 billion. Ever since Macau’s casinos were subjected to an anti-corruption campaign, VIP gamblers from China have preferred to stay away from Macau and look for new waters. While neighboring countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and South Korea have attracted these high-rollers, many of them prefer going to Saipan to play and enjoy a relaxing vacation as the casino puts together some unique VIP packages for these players.
The company is spending more than $7 billion to construct the Best Sunshine Casino and develop the Imperial Pacific Hotel and Saipan Resort. However since the construction is still not complete, the casino has had to come up with innovative plans to provide accommodation to its VIP clientele. Best Sunshine is expected to open the ground floor of its casino by the end of March and construction work will continue after the soft launch. Imperial Pacific executives recently informed the House Committee on Gaming that the ground floor is around 47 completed based on information furnished by the developer.
As a result, the Commissioner has advised Imperial Pacific to extend its contract with the T-Galleria as the current contract is expected to expire sometime in April. The Commissioner wants Imperial Pacific to be cautious and make provisions for any unexpected delays in construction that could occur for a number of reasons including bad weather. However Imperial Pacific executives do not share the same view as the commissioner as they believe that the construction work will be completed on time and there is no need to extend their contract with T-Galleria.
The Best Sunshine Live temporary casino has received a lot of attention during the last few months due to its exceptionally high GGR’s and VIP turnover. Towards the end of December 2016, one of the casino’s VP of table games who was terminated filed a lawsuit in a federal court in the United States alleging wrongful termination. The executive also claimed that the casino deliberately advised their VIP clientele on how to present their gambling activity in a manner that would allow them to skip the stringer financial reporting requirements which are demanded by U.S laws.
The executive also stated that Best Sunshine Live was violating anti-money laundering procedures that were outlined by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and not filing the required reports. Since CNMI is considered a part of the territory of the United States it is subjected to U.S law. There have been reports that FinCEN has launched an investigation into the operations of the Best Sunshine Live casino but the casino has so far denied any knowledge of such an investigation.
Best Sunshine Live also released a statement to dispute these allegations stating that it strictly complied with all anti-money laundering laws and would defend its reputation in a court of law against all such allegations.