Cui Lijie (; born c. 1959) is a Chinese billionaire businesswoman, Hong Kong citizen, and majority owner of Imperial Pacific.

Background

Originally from Harbin,

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

, China, she is a former

barefoot doctor Barefoot doctors () were healthcare providers who underwent basic medical training and worked in rural villages in China. They included farmers, folk healers, rural healthcare providers, and recent middle or secondary school graduates who recei ...

who worked in the countryside. In 1988, she invested in an auto parts and equipment factory serving a military school in Harbin. She later invested in pawnshop lending and real estate.

Career

She and her son Ji Xiaobo () became involved in the

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

casino junket business in 2009 through a company called Heng Sheng. In September 2013, Cui Lijie's company Inventive Star Limited acquired a publicly-listed Hong Kong company called First Natural Foods after its founder had been accused of embezzlement. In December 2013, First Natural Foods acquired Heng Sheng for HK$400 million. In 2014, First Natural Foods was renamed Imperial Pacific. Cui Lijie remains the majority beneficial owner of Imperial Pacific, which owns an exclusive casino license for

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 est ...

and a $600 million beachfront hotel. Her son has been described as the "mastermind" of Imperial Pacific's casino in Saipan.

Casino controversies

In 2017, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) raided the construction site of Imperial Pacific's casino in Saipan over a "federal violation of the workplace visa system" following the death of a construction worker in March 2017. Construction workers from a subsidiary of state-owned

China Metallurgical Group Corporation China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC, ), is a Chinese state-owned enterprise headquartered in Beijing, engaged in EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction), natural resources exploitation, papermaking, equipment fabrication, real e ...

were unlawfully employed on the island to build the casino. In April 2017,

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

reported that the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...

was investigating Imperial Pacific for money laundering. The FBI executed search warrants on Imperial Pacific's offices in Saipan again in March 2018. In April 2019, the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemplo ...

secured a $3.3 million judgment against Imperial Pacific for wage and overtime violations. In September 2019, the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

filed a lawsuit against Imperial Pacific for sexual harassment and discrimination. In November 2019, the FBI raided the offices of Imperial Pacific for evidence of money laundering and wire fraud, and a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a ...

subpoenaed the company regarding a corruption probe involving links with Northern Mariana Islands governor

Ralph Torres Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres (born August 6, 1979) is a Northern Marianan politician currently serving as the ninth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since December 29, 2015. He is a Republican Party (Northern Mariana Islands), Republican f ...

. In March 2020, Imperial Pacific disclosed that the

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, ter ...

was probing it for possible violations of the

Bank Secrecy Act The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, is a U.S. law requiring financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies in detecting and preventing money laun ...

. In June 2020, the Commonwealth Casino Commission of the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwe ...

announced that it was seeking to suspend Imperial Pacific's casino license for non-payment of money owed to a community benefit fund.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cui, Lijie Hong Kong casino industry businesspeople Hong Kong billionaires Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Businesspeople from Harbin

Background

Career

Casino controversies

See also

References