Eric Swallow, co-owner of Casino M8trix in San Jose, California could have his gambling license revoked after a state administrative law judge, Mary-Margaret Anderson, recommended taking away his license and fining him ,000.
Even so, he would be getting off easy compared to what California Attorney General Kamala Harris recommended: a fine of $18.8 million.
Swallow and his partners were accused of illegally drawing off millions of dollars from the casino. Prosecutors were only able to find evidence of lying to avoid paying taxes on casino income.
Swallow’s partners, including the husband and wife Peter and Jeanine Lunardi, settled their case for $1.5 million last summer and were not stripped of their license. That settlement implicated Swallow. Swallow is appealing to the Gambling Control Commission, which has the final say on both the fine and license, although he has resigned as a casino partner and is selling his 50 percent interest to John Park, a partner in many casinos in California.
Eventually former Bureau of Gambling Control director Bob Lytle, who had worked for Casino M8trix after retiring from the bureau, was implicated in the case for improperly soliciting information about the investigation from an agent of the BGC.
This scandal caused Gambling Control Commissioner Tina Littleton and Commission Chairman Richard Lopes to resign. Littleton’s common-law partner was allegedly the BGC agent that Lytle obtained the information from. Lopes was Lytle’s former supervisor.
