On May 11, 2018, Imperial County
filed a complaint against Pacificland International Development, the company operating
Imperial Regional Center, and its Chief Executive James Lo after failing to
make first payment on a $2.2 million loan from Imperial County’s Community
Benefit Program, failing to pay property taxes of $252,700, failing to pay
contractors $354,000, and having $607,000 in liens placed against the property.
On May 24 Judge Jeffrey Jones granted the county’s request to appoint a
receiver to take possession and control of Imperial Center.
An aggrieved Chinese investor
hired me to investigate the situation and do background checks on CEO “James” Chun
Nan Lo and his wife. Both had three “unspecified” criminal convictions in
Riverside County, California, but more investigation was needed to determine if
their crimes were relevant to being entrusted with $67.5 million in investor
funds. Mr. Lo also previously had a tax lien from the State of California as
well as a civil judgment against him. Their main home was also in loan default
from 2009 to 2012, when they were running this center, and then their loan
problem went away.
Mr. Lo also owned several other
companies, one of which is “Veggie & Tea House”. A “Veggie and Tea House”
truck was on site during my inspection, making me believe that he and his wife
were the restaurant suppliers to the center, a possible conflict of interest,
and maybe the reason why this fledgling center already has 5 food and beverage operations.
If Imperial Regional Center is
not paying its loans or property taxes or contractors, perhaps some of its
income is being diverted to the Lo family through Veggie & Tea House.
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