ICE Arrests Chinese Billionaire Owner of Failed Saipan Casino
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested Cui Lijie, a Chinese national and prominent figure behind a once-lavish casino development on the U.S. island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, according to local media reports.
Cui, 68, was the majority shareholder of Hong Kong-based Imperial Pacific International LLC (IPI), the now-bankrupt investment company that held Saipan’s only casino license. Her arrest comes amid a renewed push by the Trump administration to aggressively detain and deport undocumented immigrants, an approach that has drawn criticism from legal experts concerned about potential violations of due process.
ICE’s Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations reportedly detained Cui on Tuesday on suspicion of immigration violations, according to the local newspaper Marianas Variety. She is currently being held at the Department of Corrections facility in the village of Susupe. As of publication, ICE had not released official details regarding the specific grounds for her detention or announced when she will appear before an immigration judge. Newsweek said it contacted ICE for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Cui and her son, Ji Xiaobo, both Chinese nationals, built their fortune in Macao’s casino junket industry before expanding into large-scale gaming developments. Their most ambitious project was the Imperial Pacific Palace casino and hotel complex on Saipan, envisioned as a luxury destination that would transform the island’s tourism industry. The project also included plans for a massive beachside hotel development reportedly valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
However, the project quickly became mired in controversy. A 2018 Bloomberg investigation alleged widespread labor abuses, including the illegal employment of Chinese nationals who entered Saipan on tourist visas. The report also highlighted serious workplace safety violations and millions of dollars in payments allegedly made to local officials and their relatives.
In 2020, federal prosecutors indicted three executives connected to IPI and its construction partner, MCC International Saipan. The charges included unlawfully employing foreign workers and transferring more than $24 million into the United States to support illegal activities. That same year, the casino was forced to shut down operations.
Financial troubles continued to mount, and in April 2024 IPI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reporting liabilities of approximately $165.8 million. The collapse left Saipan with a massive unfinished complex and raised questions about the future of large-scale casino developments on the island.
Security analyst Cleo Paskal of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies commented on the arrest in a post on X, noting the broader implications for U.S. territories. She emphasized that Chinese nationals can still enter Saipan without a visa under certain conditions, adding to the complexity of immigration enforcement in the region.
It remains unclear whether Cui was in possession of an E-2C visa, a special investor visa category unique to the Northern Mariana Islands. Meanwhile, the shuttered Imperial Pacific Palace and its casino license were purchased in August for $12.95 million by Team King Investment. Whether the new owners will revive the property as a casino remains uncertain, leaving Saipan’s gaming future very much in doubt.
