Imperial Pacific’s Lijie Cui Detained by ICE on Saipan

Posted on: January 15, 2026, 08:33h. 

Last updated on: January 15, 2026, 08:33h.

• ICE detains IPI majority shareholder Lijie Cui on Saipan Tuesday.
• Cui was behind a massive, controversial casino project on Saipan.
  
• Project was target of numerous federal probes.

Lijie Cui, the Chinese majority shareholder of controversial casino operator Imperial Pacific International (IPI), was detained Tuesday by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers on the island of Saipan, an unincorporated US territory in the Western Pacific.

Local news outlet Marianas Variety reports that Cui is being held at the Department of Corrections for “immigration violations.” ICE has not released additional details regarding the nature of those violations or the timeline of its investigation, according to the outlet.

Federal Scrutiny

Through IPI, Cui and her son, Ji Xiaobo, began building the gaudy, palatial Imperial Pacific Palace Casino on Saipan a decade ago. The project was beset by a grim catalog of labor violations, missed deadlines, and lawsuits – and it was downhill from there.

Numerous federal investigations ensued. In 2018 and 2019, the US Department of Labor secured settlements with foreign contractors that collectively required tens of millions of dollars in back wages and liquidated damages to Chinese workers who had been underpaid and improperly employed.

Meanwhile, the FBI, IRS, and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network began investigating IPI for alleged money-laundering, wire-fraud, and bribery or corruption involving local officials. These investigations remain open.

Since then, IPI has been mired in a longstanding bankruptcy case. In August, the unfinished property and its casino license were acquired for just $12.95 million by Team King Investment, an investment vehicle controlled by Chinese-born Japanese businessman Hiroshi Kaneko.

However, a recent investigation by The Washington Post uncovered “longstanding ties” between Kaneko and Ji and Cui.

Heng Sheng Junket

The mother and son made a fortune in Macau’s junket industry in the 2000s and 2010s, catering to high-rolling gamblers and facilitating VIP traffic to the enclave’s casinos. At its height, their business, Heng Sheng Junket, was operating multiple VIP rooms and dozens of tables across several Macau casinos.

Prior to breaking ground on the Saipan resort, Cui and Ji set up a temporary casino in a shopping mall with 16 baccarat tables. For the first half of 2017, IPI reported $25 billion in VIP bets, numbers analysts have said could not have been achieved through legal means.