Rich Heidner went from potential Illinois gaming kingpin to near pariah in a matter of a couple of months.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Heidner, who expected to win approval for an ambitious racetrack and casino project in the state, may instead see gaming regulators dismantle his empire.
Earlier last month, the Illinois Gaming Board took steps to revoke Heidner’s video gambling operator license for allegedly offering a $5 million “illegal inducement” to the owner of a gambling parlor chain that planned to remove Heidner’s machines.
A Heidner spokesman denied the claim, calling it an “orchestrated smear campaign” by a competitor.
The complaint against Heidner’s Gold Rush Gaming Company followed a federal search warrant in October. It was part of a broadening public corruption investigation that led Governor J.B. Pritzker to pull the plug on Heidner’s plan for a sprawling racino complex in Tinley Park. The alleged misdeed happened more than a year ago.
Based on a December 17 complaint filed by the gaming board, Heidner went to Gibson’s Steakhouse in November 2018 to meet with the CEO of Laredo Hospitality Ventures, which owned 44 video gaming establishments carrying Heidner’s slot machines.
The CEO told Heidner that a new company owned by Daniel Fischer purchased Laredo and planned to get rid of Heidner’s slots. The decision would have a significant impact on revenue for Heidner’s company, the third largest video gambling operator in the state, providing thousands of machines to more than 500 bars, restaurants and other locations.
The complaint alleged that Heidner met Fischer at a Norridge cafe and offered to “arrange a purchase” of Laredo for $5 million more than Fischer’s company had paid for it. Fischer, the lead investor in the group seeking approval to open a new casino in Rockford, declined the offer. Heidner allegedly described his bid in a text message to Laredo’s previous owner.
Under state gambling law, “giving anything of value to an establishment as an incentive or inducement to locate
in that establishment” constitutes a felony. Heidner’s proposed “windfall payment” was intended to keep his slots in Laredo establishments, making it an “illegal inducement,” the complaint said.
Heidner spokesman Randall Samborn acknowledged that while discussions about a legitimate purchase offer were discussed, Gold Rush ended up a victim of an illegal inducement from a competitor that “engaged in a sham transaction” to replace Heidner’s machines at Laredo locations. Gold Rush filed a lawsuit earlier this year against Fischer, who could not be reached for comment.
“The allegations are absolutely false, and Gold Rush and Rick Heidner will vigorously oppose the campaign against them before the Gaming Board and in court,” Samborn said in a statement.
Gaming board administrator Marcus Fruchter declined comment on the case after a December 19 meeting, when members voted to order Gold Rush to fire Ronald Bolger, the company’s director of operations, as well as sales agent Daniel Gerardi, after determining the men have “social and business associations that pose a threat to the integrity of video gaming,” Fruchter said during the meeting.
Heidner and his employees have until early January to respond to the gaming board’s complaints.
In September, Heidner received Illinois Racing Board approval for the Tinley Park project, worked out in conjunction with Hawthorne Race Course general manager Tim Carey. But by mid-October, un-redacted search warrants indicated federal agents sought items related to Heidner and Gold Rush. Soon after, a Chicago Tribune story detailed Heidner’s business ties to a banking family with mob connections. Pritzker’s office then torpedoed his racino bid by refusing to sell state-owned land for the project. Heidner has not been accused of wrongdoing on either of those fronts.
