"A tiny U.S. territory in the Pacific doubles down on a giant Chinese casino", 31 December 2025

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — The beachfront casino [...] ended up drawing multiple U.S. investigations and a litany of lawsuits, and its operators abandoned it half-built [...].

In August, a new investor bought the rat-infested complex, promising to finish and reopen it, [...].

Rather than representing a break from the Saipan casino’s troubled past [...] Team King Investment, have long-standing ties to its original operators [...].

[...] arrival in Saipan has renewed concerns about corruption [...].

The FBI, IRS and the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have all had open investigations against the casino and its original owners [...]. But these probes have not led to indictments on the most serious allegations surrounding the facility, including corruption and money laundering. Investigators and former U.S. and local officials involved said the probes lacked federal resources and attention from Washington.

Meanwhile, the Japanese company that [...] bid for the Saipan casino, Kyosei Bank, is facing deepening financial and legal problems in Tokyo, where more than 1,000 retail investors are suing for more than $70 million in claims, according to lawmakers and plaintiffs’ lawyers. The company is still a partner in the casino project, according to internal corporate records and Kaneko’s lawyer.

Kaneko did not respond to multiple emailed requests for interviews [...]. In brief comments [...] he said that he “serve[s] the interest of Japan” and its government and that “what the media writes is all wrong” and he is “not at all interested in China.” The lawyer representing him in Saipan [...] declined to answer detailed questions but said in an email [...] that [...] Team King Investment, which now owns the casino assets, “has no relationship or affiliation” with [...] Imperial Pacific International, and is a “good faith buyer.”

A lawyer who represented Ji in a lawsuit in Hong Kong did not respond to multiple emails. Cui could not be reached and did not respond to detailed questions sent to her husband, Howyo Chi, who is also the local director in Saipan of the now-bankrupt Imperial Pacific International. Chi, who paid to incorporate Kaneko’s local company in Saipan, also declined detailed requests for comment.