Cui Lijie
Cui Lijie | |
|---|---|
| Born | circa 1959 Harbin, Heilongjiang, China |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, Businesswoman |
| Known for | Majority owner of Imperial Pacific |
Cui Lijie (; born circa 1959) is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur and Hong Kong resident who holds the majority stake in Imperial Pacific.
Background
Hailing from Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, Cui initially worked as a barefoot doctor in rural communities. In 1988, she made an investment in an automotive parts manufacturing facility that supplied a military academy in Harbin. Subsequently, she broadened her business interests to include pawnshop financing and property development.
Career
Together with her son Ji Xiaobo (), Cui entered the Macau casino junket industry in 2009 via Heng Sheng. In September 2013, her firm Inventive Star Limited took control of the publicly traded Hong Kong company First Natural Foods after its founder faced embezzlement allegations. By December of the same year, First Natural Foods acquired Heng Sheng for HK$400 million and was rebranded as Imperial Pacific in 2014.
Cui continues to be the principal beneficial owner of Imperial Pacific, which possesses an exclusive casino license for Saipan and manages a $600 million oceanfront hotel. Her son Ji Xiaobo is credited as the key strategist behind the casino’s operations on Saipan.
Casino controversies
In 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a raid at Imperial Pacific’s Saipan casino construction site due to breaches of the work visa regulations following a fatality among workers. Employees from a subsidiary of state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corporation were found to be employed illegally. The United States Department of Justice initiated an inquiry into Imperial Pacific for suspected money laundering activities, prompting additional FBI search warrants in 2018.
In April 2019, the United States Department of Labor won a $3.3 million verdict against Imperial Pacific related to violations of wage and overtime laws. Later that year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed charges accusing the company of sexual harassment and discriminatory practices.
The FBI raided Imperial Pacific’s offices again in November 2019 seeking evidence tied to money laundering and wire fraud, while a federal grand jury issued subpoenas amid an investigation into corruption involving Northern Mariana Islands governor Ralph Torres.
In March 2020, Imperial Pacific revealed it was under scrutiny by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network over possible breaches of the Bank Secrecy Act. By June 2020, the Commonwealth Casino Commission moved to suspend Imperial Pacific’s casino license due to unpaid fees for the community benefit fund.