AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) Maine officials have issued the states first casino license.
The Gambling Control Board on Tuesday approved a gaming license for Hollywood Slots in Bangor. Hollywood Slots is now licensed as a slots operator, but it requires a casino license now that it plans to add poker, blackjack and other table games in mid-March.
The Bangor Daily News reports that the board also approved a name change to Hollywood Casino Bangor.
John Osborne, vice president and general manager of Hollywood Casino Bangor, said the casino will open March 16 and has hired about 60 of the 89 employees needed.
FRANKFORT, KY (WDRB) — Their shouts of No! and songs filled the capitol rotunda. It was here where more than 150 members of Kentuckys religious community voiced their strong opposition to the expansion of gambling.
The rally formedby the Kentucky Baptists, theKy. Council of Churchesand the Family Foundation came one day before a crucial vote on a bill that seeks to legalize casinos and add up to seven throughout the state.
Gov. Steve Beshear has said casinos could help the states horse industry and bring in several hundred million dollars of tax revenue each year.
With one voice we are saying we are against the expansion of gambling, said Dr. Marian McClure Taylor of the Ky. Council of Churches.
Pastor Hershael York of Buck Run Baptist Churchhelped lead the rally. When asked directly about Gov. Steve Beshears desire to allow Kentuckians to vote on the issue, York made a biblical reference Pontius Pilate.
You know in the Bible theres one other guy that tried to wash his hands of the blame as well and you cant do that, he said.
Sen. Damon Thayer, theRepublican Senator who sponsors the casino bill says he plans to make changes before Wednesdays Senate committee hearing. Senate bill 151 seeks to change Kentuckys constitution to allow for a public vote on the ballot. It also discusses places casinos at some of the states horse race tracks.
(The) change in the language makes it a little more broad and addresses the concernsthat the members said would make it more palatable to them, Thayer said.
Members had expressed concerns that the bill offers the states racetracks and unfair advantage at obtaining a casino license. House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D – Prestonsburg, says the changes would allow outsiders likecasino companiesto bid as well.
(It would allow) for other entities to be able to compete for licenses at what would be the more desirable sites, Stumbo said in an interview with WDRB News.
Buteven Thayer,the bill sponsor, is unsure of its chances.
If it comes out of committee.. after that its out of my control, Thayer said. Im just trying to tweak the language to get a bill out of committee tomorrow.
Senate Bill 151 will be heard at noon on Wednesday before the local government committee which Thayer chairs.
Internet sweepstakes cafes operate in an unregulated gray area of the law that raises concerns about whether they could be fronts for illegal gambling. Its time to bring them into the light.
More Blade Editorials
Every day, thousands of Ohioans, many of then older women, sit in front of computer terminals in hundreds of storefronts across the state. They play what appear to be video slot machines. Customers buy phone cards to play the games. Winning earns them more Internet time, as well as points that give them chances in sweepstakes. The sweepstakes winners get money.
Is that gambling? The owners of these businesses say no. Sweepstakes have predetermined winners, they argue, so they are not games of chance.
Customers dont have to play the games to be entered in the sweepstakes, they add. The patrons can swipe their cards to see whether theyve won, and use the cards to make telephone calls.
In 2009, now-retired Toledo Municipal Court Judge Francis Gorman ruled that Internet sweepstakes operations are not gambling. Opponents of the cafes, including law enforcement officers, state lawmakers, and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, arent so sure.
They say that because the businesses are unregulated, the temptation to cross the line into illegal activity — such as making under-the-table cash payouts or manipulating computer game software — is present. Other detractors call the cafes convenience casinos, and claim they promote criminal activity, prey on poor people, and increase gambling addiction.
Many local governments initially welcomed new businesses and jobs in tough economic times. But in Fremont, Cleveland, and other Ohio communities, undercover police investigations have led to arrests and accusations of illegal gambling. Internet cafe owners respond that the industry should not be judged by the improper actions of individual operators.
Last year, Mr. DeWine proposed that Internet cafes that offer sweepstakes or skill-based games be regulated, to prevent unregulated operators taking advantage of Ohioans. Regulation also would protect the four casinos under construction in Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, as well as horse track slot machines and legal charitable gaming such as church bingo, from unfair competition, he said.
A bill before the state House would require Internet cafes to be licensed, limit the number of cafes in a community, and allow local governments to prohibit them. The measure would put the Ohio Casino Control Commission in charge of licensing businesses and inspecting and certifying games.
Legal operators will not be hurt by regulation, except where communities decide to prohibit their activities altogether. And if the sweepstakes cafes are, as Judge Gorman said, a clever promotional device to increase the sale of phone cards, they will be helped by the elimination of illegal operators that give them a bad name. The cost of licenses can easily be borne by an industry that reportedly collects millions of dollars a year.
More regulation, while not ideal, is needed to bring Internet sweepstakes cafes out of the shadows. Thats the price Ohioans should pay for their decision to expand gambling in the state.
Near default three years ago, Sheldon Adelson has made more money than anyone in America since, dominating Chinese gambling–and US politics. A full-access tour of his $25 billion comeback.
The inner sanctum of one of the most influential men on the planet is situated in the bowels of the massive Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, past the replica Renaissance façade and whirling lines of slot machines, through two sets of unmarked doors, a windowless waiting room, rows of cluttered desks and a coughing miniature poodle. The chummy photos on the walls of the bunker itself, which overlooks a private courtyard, represent a who’s who of conservative royalty, including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani and Benjamin Netanyahu.
But when Sheldon Adelson hobbles into the room, past his walker and motorized scooter, his physical frailty, stemming from a nerve condition, belies his muscular perch. No matter: His handshake and voice remain firm, his mind sharp, and the entire country now wants to know what he’s planning. Adelson’s recent campaign-saving donations to Newt Gingrich have made him a figure of political intrigue. “Those people are either jealous or professional critics,” Adelson tells me during his first interview since bankrolling the former speaker’s super PAC, Winning Our Future, to the tune of eight figures.
Since January he’s turned down hundreds of interview requests, and has been dissected on TV and the Internet thousands of times more. But the media frenzy misses the larger story of Sheldon Adelson. Yes, his support for Gingrich, and hinted support for whoever becomes the GOP nominee, has already upturned the US presidential race. But Adelson’s true power emanates from his international business empire, which has quietly exploded over the past three years. With $12 billion plowed into four casino projects in Macao, he’s likely the largest foreign investor in China–ever. With almost 57 million square feet of resort space, Adelson controls real estate akin to 21 Empire State Buildings. He’s helped turn Singapore, he boasts, “from a stodgy, boring conservative town to a town of excitement and culinary arts and museums.” His power stretches from Israel, where he owns an influential right-wing newspaper and directs hundreds of millions of dollars to local charities, to his home base, Las Vegas, where he controls the 4,000-suite Venetian casino.
The market has responded. A week before my visit, Las Vegas Sands reported record quarterly net revenue ($2.54 billion) off the strength of properties in gambling-crazed Macao and announced it would pay its first-ever dividend. Its stock has surged, boasting a market cap of around $39 billion– nearly double the values of gambling rivals Wynn and MGM, combined.
Most impressively, the money has come staggeringly fast. Just three years ago Adelson’s empire was facing default, and FORBES estimated that his net worth plunged from $28 billion to about $3 billion. Since then he’s made almost all of it back–Sands’ stock is up 3,700%, and Adelson’s net worth has rebounded to $25 billion, again making him one of the ten richest people in America. The 78-year-old who seemed destined to be a case study on the self-inflicted pitfalls of overleveraging just might have pulled off the greatest turnaround in the postmeltdown era, accumulating more wealth since 2009 than any other American–Mark Zuckerberg included. “I’m too old to be a kid,” says Adelson. “So you can call me the comeback adolescent.”
In 2007 Adelson, like too many Americans, was on a spending spree, loading up $10 billion of debt to fund a $1.9 billion expansion in Las Vegas, a seven-casino, $12 billion project in Macao’s Cotai Strip and his $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Investors, frothing at the potential earnings from these massive Asian resorts, valued Sands at an exuberant 60 times Ebidta. “It was like you have the gold mine but hadn’t been able to take the gold out yet,” says Sands President Michael Leven, who was a board member at the time. “But you were priced on the marketplace exactly like you already had the gold.”
In short order Sands ran out of the money needed to finish those mines. Their main revenue source, the Venetian, stalled as Las Vegas hit a soft patch. Construction delays further stretched the balance sheet. Suddenly investors forgot about the company’s growth potential and focused on the massive debt burden. Between October 2007 and January 2008 Sands’ shares plunged 50%.
As the economy weakened, gamblers cashed out and companies canceled conventions. Adelson’s $5 billion credit line, predicated on staying beneath 7.5 times cash flow, began careening toward default.
Analysts and even some of his executives begged Adelson to slow or suspend his construction in order to keep costs down. Adelson kept his foot on the gas. “Some people call me an optimist,” Adelson now says. “The fact is that my appetite for risk was far greater than other people, and my courage in my own conviction was unshakable.” Hubris carried a price: By July 2008 shares were down 80% from the 2007 high.
Okada Put Gambling Official in $6,000 Macau Suite, Wynn Says February 23, 2012, 12:03 AM EST
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By David Voreacos
(Updates with comments from Naguiat in 11th, 19th paragraphs.)
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — Wynn Resorts Ltd. accused Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada of putting up a Philippines gaming regulator in a $6,000-a-day suite in Macau as part of a series of payments that the company said appear to have violated U.S. anti-bribery law.
Okada’s Universal Entertainment Corp. improperly gave more than $110,000 in payments and gifts to two chief gambling regulators in the Philippines and their families, according to a report prepared for Wynn Resorts and filed Feb. 19 with a lawsuit against Okada in state court in Nevada.
Okada, his associates and companies made three dozen improper payments, including a four-day stay by a Filipino regulator, Cristino Naguiat Jr., in the most expensive room at Wynn Resorts Macau, according to a report by Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan LLP. The room, known as Villa 81, covers 7,000 square feet, the report said.
“Naguiat’s luxury stays at Wynn Resorts facilities were fully known to Mr. Okada, who actively involved himself in some of the arrangements,” according to the report, prepared by former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh.
Okada, who is developing a gaming business in the Philippines, has been asked to step down as a director of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts.
Escalating Dispute
The casino company claims that Okada, Universal and a company controlled by Universal, Aruze USA Inc., breached their duty to Wynn. On Feb. 19, Wynn forcibly redeemed Universal’s 19.7 percent stake in the company at a discount, escalating a dispute between Chief Executive Officer Stephen Wynn and Okada, who helped bankroll the casino company.
Universal said in a statement yesterday that while it hadn’t been provided with a copy of the report, “we believe the allegations leveled against Universal are motivated by self- interest and represent the results of an incomplete and otherwise flawed corporate governance process.”
Universal said Aruze USA would seek a court order to prevent the redemption of the shares.
Okada visited the office of regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., or PAGCOR, in Manila on Feb. 20 and denied making cash gifts, the regulator said in an e-mailed statement.
Okada told Naguiat, PAGCOR’s chairman, that the $110,000 in gifts detailed in the report were “complimentary accommodations” granted to Okada’s business associates from the Philippines and other countries from 2008 to 2011, according to the statement. The billionaire also apologized to the regulator for including the agency and its officials in the dispute, it said.
Industry Practice
There was “nothing inappropriate” about the accommodations, Naguiat said in a phone interview. “It is industry practice that if there are casino executives in town, we offer cars, security and rooms as a courtesy, as a form of reciprocity. This practice also happens in the airline industry.”
The 47-page Wynn report concludes that Okada, his company and associates “appear to have engaged” in violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the Philippines and may also have done so in South Korea. The FCPA bars corrupt payments to government officials for obtaining or retaining business.
“Based upon a multi-month investigation — which culminated with a personal interview that Okada long evaded — Freeh uncovered substantial evidence of gross improprieties by Okada and his agents,” Wynn Resorts said in its breach-of- fiduciary-duty complaint.
Entertainment City
Since 2008, Okada and his associates have procured land and a provisional gaming license to create an establishment known as Entertainment City Manila. Okada is the chairman of Tokyo-based Universal.
Wynn Resorts set up an account funded by deposits from Okada or his company for “billing conveniences related to charges at various Wynn Resorts locales,” according to the Freeh report.
The report details 36 charges between May 2008 and June 2011 when Okada, his associates and companies made payments that “directly benefited senior PAGCOR officials, including two chairmen and their family members.” One payment, for $4,642, benefited Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, the husband of former Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, according to the report.
Freeh’s report details the September 2010 visit of Naguiat, his wife, three children, nanny and other PAGCOR officials to Wynn Resorts Macau. Naguiat was registered as “Incognito,” which Freeh’s report said was “an attempt to hide the payment of extremely costly expenses by a corporation connected with a regulated entity.”
$20,000 Cash
Okada’s associates obtained $20,000 from the resort’s cash cage as advances for Naguiat and his family, according to the report. Okada also hosted a dinner at Wynn Macau for Naguiat and about 13 others, charging the $1,673 to Okada’s room.
Naguiat said he had one dinner with Okada and the rest with other casino executives whom he didn’t name.
“I never received $20,000; we didn’t receive any cash,” he said. “I was told that the amount wasn’t supposed to be charged to our rooms. It was a mischarge.”
The report details a Wynn Resorts board meeting in February 2011, when Okada said words to the effect of “in Asia, it is okay to give gifts to government officials,” and “I wouldn’t bribe someone but would have someone else bribe that person.”
Okada Denial
In a Feb. 15 interview with Freeh’s investigators, Okada denied making those statements. He admitted meeting with Naguiat during his Wynn Macau stay and said they “did not discuss any business at the dinner which would have been rude,” according to the report.
Okada was never told the cost of Naguiat’s stay, “nor did he ask anybody that question,” according to the report. He also said one employee was fired and another resigned after a scolding as a result of the stay.
The evidence about the stay, Freeh concluded, “cast substantial doubt on Mr. Okada’s credibility.” His various actions also gave the Wynn Resorts board “a factual basis to review Mr. Okada’s continued suitability to be a major shareholder and director,” according to the report.
Last month, Okada sued Wynn Resorts in state court in Nevada to force the company to produce spending records. That case is pending. Okada opposed Wynn Resorts’ HK$1 billion ($129 million) pledge in July 2011 to the University of Macau Development Foundation.
‘Fair Value’
Wynn Resorts has said the dispute stemmed from Okada’s decision to compete by pursuing projects in the Philippines. Okada was removed as vice chairman after admonishments from the board over the plan, Wynn Resorts said. The company said that it will recommend that he be dropped from the board of Wynn Macau as well.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has requested information about Wynn’s donation to the university foundation. Wynn was asked in an informal inquiry by the SEC’s Salt Lake City office on Feb. 8 to preserve information about the commitment, the company said in a Feb. 13 regulatory filing.
Wynn Resorts said in a statement that to protect the company’s gambling licenses, it may redeem shares for “fair value” from a person found “unsuitable” under its articles of incorporation. An independent financial consultant helped calculate the fair value, and Okada’s stake was redeemed at a discount because of restrictions on the shares, Wynn said in the statement.
‘Unlawful Payments’
“Okada had made unlawful payments to foreign gaming regulators who could advance Okada’s business interests,” Wynn alleged in its complaint. “Okada surreptitiously undertook these acts despite admonishments that all directors closely adhere to company policy.”
Wynn climbed 6 percent to $119.40 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Universal Entertainment plunged the daily maximum of 21 percent in Tokyo on Feb. 20, the first trading day after Wynn filed its lawsuit.
Universal’s shares rose as much as 14 percent in Tokyo today, the most on an intraday basis since Aug. 25, to 1,727 yen and traded at 1,665 yen as of 12:57 p.m.
The case is Wynn Resorts Ltd. v. Okada, A-12-656710-B, District Court, Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas). The earlier case is Okada v. Wynn Resorts Ltd., A-12-654522-B, District Court, Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas).
–With assistance from Shunichi Ozasa in Tokyo, Vinicy Chan in Hong Kong, Yi Tian in New York, Dan Hart in Washington and Clarissa Batino in Manila. Editors: Andrew Dunn, David Glovin
To contact the reporter on this story: David Voreacos in Newark at dvoreacos@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net; Stephanie Wong at swong139@bloomberg.net
SALT LAKE CITY — The effort to make certain
Internet gambling is never allowed in Utah plowed forward on
Tuesday as members of the states House of Representatives approved
a bill that adds gambling over the Internet and on hand-held
devices to the list of banned practices in the state.
Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, sponsored the legislation, which
he said was created to make sure gambling remains illegal in Utah,
even if the federal government decides to allow Internet gambling
nationwide.
What this simply does is state if a federal law is enacted that
legalizes Internet gambling, the state of Utah shall opt out,
Sandstrom said.
The US Congress does have a bill in its possession that would
legalize Internet gambling nationwide. The bill is assigned to a
committee but has yet to have a hearing. If the bill were to pass
and Utah did not have Internet gambling already blocked, Sandstrom
worried that Utah would then be subject to allowing casinos on
Native American land in the states borders.
Under federal statute if any type of gambling is legal in the
state, it then must allow Indian tribes in the state to have
casinos if they desire, Sandstrom said. This does not take away
any rights in our state that any Indian tribe already has.
The bill now moves forward to be considered by the state Senate.
Utah is one of only two states in the nation that bans all forms of
gambling. Hawaii also has a complete ban; that states Legislature
did consider a bill to open up gambling on the islands, but no
action has been taken on it.
3:18 pm The truthfulness of prosecution witness Ronnie Gilley became the primary subject matter Tuesday afternoon when the attorney for Sen. Harri Anne Smith began his cross examination of the Country Crossing developer.
Smith attorney William White asked Gilley repeatedly about his trustworthiness during testimony in the gambling corruption retrial.
White began the questioning by asking Gilley if he considered himself to be an honest man.
I do, Gilley replied.
Does an honest man bribe legislators? White asked.
I broke the law, Gilley responded.
Gilley said he had been living in a lie in 2010 when he said he offered bribes to legislators in an attempt to pass pro-gambling legislation, but that he is being truthful on the witness stand during the gambling corruption retrial because his only chance to receive a recommendation of a reduced sentence from the government is to testify truthfully.
Would you agree with me that today you are at a crossroads in your life? White asked.
I believe thats just about every day. I think we face a crossroads every day in our life. I certainly do, Gilley responded.
Gilley said he originally proclaimed he was innocent of the charges against him because of his large ego. After Gilley was incarcerated for violating the terms of his pretrial release, he said he became aware of the evidence in the case.
I sat in jail for three months listening to all the evidence and found it to be overwhelming and then accepted responsibility for the crimes I committed, Gilley said.
White also asked Gilley about a bill initially introduced by Smith in 2008 that would have defined bingo in Houston County as a game played on paper cards if approved by a vote of the people. Gilley said Smiths bill, which was introduced April 3, 2008, was very deceptive and would have eliminated the Country Crossing project.
What she was doing, she was to accommodate her special interest group, Gilley said.
Smith sought to pull the bill several days later.
White continues his cross examination of Gilley Tuesday afternoon.
12:16 pm The defense attorney for former Sen. Larry Means indicated through questioning of Ronnie Gilley Tuesday that Means voted for final Senate passage of pro-gambling legislation because it benefited his district and not because of an agreement to accept a bribe.
Means attorney Bill Clark questioned Gilley extensively Tuesday morning about the merits of SB380, a gambling bill in the Alabama Legislature in 2010 that would have defined electronic bingo and placed the issue on the ballot for a statewide vote.
Clark played portions of a conversation Means had with VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor in March of 2010, prior to the final vote, in which Means talked about the bill.
People around here want to vote on it. They may want to vote to kill it, I dont know, Means said. You cant go wrong letting he people vote and the people want to vote. The jobs are the biggest thing up here. Jobs is what they see.
Gilley testified that he believed the first version of SB380 had monopolistic language that grandfathered in certain gambling establishments. Gilley said the first version of the bill would not have included an establishment for Means district in Etowah County. Means abstained from a procedural vote that would have brought the bill up for a vote on March 3, 2010.
The bill was reduced from 42 pages to 8 pages over the next three weeks. Gilley said the monopolistic language was stripped from the bill and that Etowah County could be considered for a possible location. Means voted in favor of the final version of the bill.
Your words, Mr. Gilley, were that the final version was a fair, equitable bill? Clark asked.
I did, Gilley said.
Means is charged with bribery. Prosecutors contend Means asked for $100,000 in campaign donations in exchange for a favorable vote.
Cross examination of Gilley resumes Tuesday afternoon.
10:33 am Ronnie Gilley said Tuesday he intended to continue to develop Country Crossing without electronic bingo, and planned to use some of the revenue from a potential development in Mississippi to fund it.
Conversations recorded during the vote-buying investigation indicate Gilley was seeking investors for a gambling facility in Mississippi. Gilley also testified he had several meetings with investors and officials in 2009 and 2010 about the development.
After Country Crossing closed in January of 2010 under threat of a task force raid, Gilley continued to pursue the Mississippi development throughout most of the year
During testimony Tuesday at the gambling corruption retrial, Gilley said the potential absence of electronic bingo at Country Crossing led him to seek another funding mechanism to develop the non-gaming portions of Country Crossing.
The testimony came in response to questions from Susan James, attorney for Country Crossing spokesperson Jay Walker. James asked Gilley about potential investors in the Mississippi project. Gilley said part of the revenue from the Mississippi project would have been used to fund Country Crossing. The Mississippi development, however, never came to fruition.
In other testimony Tuesday morning, James asked Gilley about his time in the Montgomery Municipal jail in early 2011. Gilley testified that on two or three occasions during his incarceration, he borrowed a cell phone from a jail guard against jail rules. James said the jail conducted an investigation and also learned Gilley had allowed the guard to fish on land owned by Gilley. The investigation led to the guards resignation, James said. James also said Gilley then arranged for the guard to work at one of his companies. James sought to explore the issue more during her cross examination of Gilley, but the judge said the matter was not relevant to the case.
Testimony continues Tuesday morning.
9:06 am — Testimony has begun Tuesday in the gambling corruption retrial. Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley is being questioned by Susan James, attorney for former Country Crossing spokesperson Jay Walker.
Gilley testified last week that Walker carried out bribe offers to then-Sen. Jim Preuitt. Gilley said Walker offered to conduct a poll and provide other campaign services in exchange for Preuitts favorable vote on SB380, a bill that defined electronic bingo and would have placed the issue on the statewide ballot in November of 2010. During Gilleys direct testimony, prosecutors played a recorded conversation between Walker and Gilley in which the two discussed buying a truck or trucks from Preuitts automobile dealership in Talladega.
Gilley said Walker came to Country Crossing in 2009 after investors determined the development needed an official spokesperson other than Gilley.
But this week, the Catawbas asked that Thursday#x92;s hearing be canceled. Both sides have expressed a willingness to have the lawsuit decided quickly, said Fayssoux.
In an email to The Herald, Fayssoux added, #x93;the Catawbas have agreed not to open or offer any gaming until the case is heard in court. In the meantime, the Catawba Indian Nation will continue to cooperate with authorities while they pursue their gaming rights,#x94; the statement said.
Catawba Chief Bill Harris wasn#x92;t available by phone Tuesday, but issued the same statement.
A hearing on the lawsuit hasn#x92;t been scheduled.
Last month the Catawbas sued the state and SLED Chief Mark Keel for rights to gamble and build a casino on the reservation, located east of Rock Hill along the Catawba River.
The tribe indicated plans to build a casino and two hotels, with construction starting next year and finishing in 2014. The complex would employ almost 4,000 people during construction and operation, and would bring in more than $100,000 in taxes and fees to the state, according to an economic impact study the tribe commissioned.
Claiming it already has the right to gaming, the tribe also announced plans to have a gaming operation underway before Thursday#x92;s hearing, setting the stage for a showdown with law enforcement.
The casino plans outraged local leaders who have fought gambling in York County and the state. The plans also surprised county officials who have been planning to extend Dave Lyle Boulevard into Lancaster County, creating a multi-lane corridor that would provide greater access to the reservation.
State and local law enforcement officials said they were ready to enforce the law, although they would not say what action, if any, they would take against the tribe if it started gambling operations.
The state laid out its case against the Catawbas#x92; claims in a brief filed Friday by the Attorney General#x92;s Office, which is representing the state and Keel.
The Catawbas say their gambling rights come from a 1993 settlement agreement between the tribe and state and federal governments. The agreement says the tribe can have gambling #x93;to the same extent the devices are authorized by state law.#x94;
The Catawbas claim a 2005 state law authorizing gambling on cruise boats off the coast of Charleston gives them the right to have the same type of gambling on the reservation.
But in the brief filed Friday, the state refuted the tribe#x92;s reading of the 1993 agreement and its claims about the 2005 Gambling Cruise Act.
The 2005 act only authorizes the operation of gaming machines beyond three miles from the state coast. For the tribe to claim the right to operate the machines on the reservation, the brief said, the devices must be authorized in South Carolina–not outside of its territorial borders.
A statewide ban on video gaming from 2007 also #x93;defeats any right of the Tribe to video gambling on its Reservation,#x94; the brief said.
The state said that if the tribe wants to operate a gambling cruise boat, it has the ability to do so under the 2005 law. But in seeking the right to have similar activities on the reservation, the tribe is asking for rights no one else within the state has.
Fayssoux wouldn#x92;t comment on the state#x92;s arguments.
#x93;I don#x92;t want to comment on the state#x92;s position other than we are extremely confident that the Catawbas have this right,#x94; he said.
WASHINGTON – Japanese gambling tycoon Kazuo Okada was accused Tuesday in a US lawsuit of paying off Philippine regulators and cheating his powerful Las Vegas partner.
Wynn Resorts said Okada, Japans pachinko king and a director of Wynn, went behind the companys back to develop business for his own Universal Entertainment group in the Philippines and broke US laws on foreign bribery, the lawsuit alleges.
Wynn said Okada spent more than US$110,000 (S$138,072) to curry favor with two Philippines officials in apparent violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, jeopardizing Wynns own reputation in the process.
Mr. Okada, his associates and companies appear to have engaged in a longstanding practice of making payments and gifts to his two chief gaming regulators at the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), who directly oversee and regulate Mr. Okadas provisional licensing agreement to operate in that company, the lawsuit said.
The suit, filed Tuesday in Las Vegas district court, said that Okada had sought a gaming license in the Philippines and made the payments despite Wynns telling him not to do so.
It named former Pagcor chairman Efraim Genuino and current Chairman Cristino Naguiat, and their families, as the recipients of the payoffs, which dated to 2008.
Okada told a Wynn investigator that he had paid for Genuinos trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wynn said.
Okadas conduct poses a direct assault upon, and a threat to, Wynn Resorts reputation for probity, which is central to maintaining its stature in the gaming industry as well as its current and future licensing.
It was the latest step in the acrimonious fight between US casino magnate Steve Wynn and his longtime partner Okada, known as king of Japans pachinko industry – a hugely popular gambling business built around a pinball-like arcade game.
On Sunday Wynns board voted to force out Okada, who controls a 20 per cent stake in the company, which owns casinos in Las Vegas and Macau.
Ontario should foldem — and hold-em — by getting out of gambling while regulating the industry, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said Monday.
Should the government actually be in the gaming business, or should we simply be a regulator? Hudak said.
Do we get the best bang for our buck when the government is running these sites across the province? Or should they actually be privately run and simply regulated?
I think thats a way we could actually create jobs and save money.
Gambling in Ontario is a massive business that pumps about $2 billion annually into government coffers.
But in the wake of economist Don Drummonds report on government services, which warned darkly the province could be headed toward a $30-billion deficit if spending isnt sharply curtailed, Hudak said a radical rethink of the Ontario Lotteries and Gaming Corporation is needed to safeguard taxpayers best interests.
Selling off all or part of the OLG empire, which includes slot machines at 17 racetracks, five casinos, one stand-alone slot facility, four resort casinos and 10,000 retail lottery kiosks could raise cash that could be put against the provinces debt, reducing interest payments.
Its one idea Hudak is proposing for consideration over and above the 362 money-saving recommendations in the Drummond report, along with his call for a mandatory public sector wage freeze.
Im just not convinced that when governments get into businesses that the private sector used to operate, that you get the best return, Hudak said.
I think if you had the private sector running these establishments, I think youd probably create a lot more jobs at the end of the day and youd get a better return for the taxpayers money.
Private companies already have a role in the system — they run the four resort casinos (Casino Niagara, Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Casino Rama and Caesars Windsor) as well as the Blue Heron Slot Machine Facility.
But like the wage freeze suggestion, Drummond himself pours cold water on the idea selling off the OLG or other government businesses would earn taxpayers a huge victory.
These assets contribute substantial, ongoing and growing revenues to the province, Drummond wrote.