The Nevada Gaming Control Board has launched an online portal on its website for accepting complaints and other communications regarding alleged sexual harassment by disgraced casino mogul Steve Wynn.
The board did not specifically cite its ongoing investigation into Wynn’s conduct in announcing the availability of a form for members of the public to volunteer statements in confidence. Instead the board said the form can be used for information pertinent to any of the regulatory agency’s public investigations.
Reports, however, have it that the board has been flooded the last two weeks with telephone calls pertaining to Wynn, who resigned as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts in the wake of an explosive January 26 Wall Street Journal report containing testimony from several women amounting to what the newspaper termed a “decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct” by the 76-year-old billionaire, one of which resulted in a secret $7.5 million payment to an ex-Wynn Las Vegas manicurist who claims she was coerced by Wynn into performing sex acts when she worked at the hotel.
Becky Harris, the board’s recently appointed chair, said the agency didn’t track how many calls it has received in connection with the investigation but said it was “enough that it’s been disruptive to the day-to-day business of the board.”
“It’s overdue,” she said. “I think that we’ve just had some days when our phone lines have been very, very busy, and this is a way to help manage that so the board can continue to conduct its day-to-day business.”
Regulators in Massachusetts, where Wynn Resorts is developing a $2 billion-plus resort casino outside Boston, and in Macau, where the company derives bulk of its revenues and operating cash flow, are also investigating the allegations.
Wynn has denied the charges, labeling them “preposterous” and blaming them on the machinations of ex-wife Elaine Wynn, a former Wynn director who was ousted from the board in 2015 in the midst of an ongoing court fight between the two over provisions in their 2010 divorce settlement that Wynn claims grant him control over her sizable shareholding in the company.
Wynn has said subsequent to his resignation that he would no longer contest Elaine Wynn’s efforts to regain control of her shares, comprising 9.4 percent of the company and valued currently at around $1.6 billion.
Las Vegas’ Metropolitan Police Department, meanwhile, said they have received two reports pertaining to Wynn, both alleging crimes dating back to the 1970s, one in the form of a complaint filed three days after the Journal article appeared from someone in St. Louis, the other received on February 5 in connection with an event that allegedly occurred in Chicago.
The department said it planned to forward the second complaint to authorities in Chicago since it is outside Metro’s jurisdiction. The other was being processed through the normal investigative process, although it is possible the statute of limitations for sexual assault—20 years in Nevada—may have expired.
“Sexual assault is a significant crime,” a spokesman for the department said. “I think it’s important to say that we would take this seriously, investigate everything and get all the facts before turning away the person,” Hadfield said. “This isn’t like a car being stolen.”
The fallout has also spread to Wynn Resorts’ board, which has come under increasing fire from shareholders over what it may have known or didn’t know about Wynn’s behavior and has formed a committee from among its independent directors to investigate the allegations contained in the Journal report.
Last week, the board announced it had hired an outside law firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, to assist with the committee’s probe and said it planned to increase the size of the board “to strengthen” its “composition, skills and experience.”
The board further promised an “expanded and comprehensive review” of the company’s internal policies and procedures with the goal of “ensuring the company employs best practices to maintain a safe and respectful workplace for all employees”.
The Journal said last week the company also will set up a telephone hot line and web portal for current and former employees to provide information about alleged sexual misconduct involving Wynn.
In Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker had some harsh words for the company. Wynn’s departure as chairman and CEO hasn’t blunted his criticism.
“There are a ton of questions that need to be answered,” said Baker. “We need to know from, not just Steve Wynn but more importantly the entire Wynn enterprise all of its companies, what they knew, when they knew it, what they chose to disclose and what they chose to withhold from the state of Massachusetts when they applied for this license and going through the suitability review.”
Because Massachusetts has a low threshold for ownership licensure—5 percent—Wynn’s departure as a company official isn’t enough. He reportedly owns 12 percent of the company.
Baker said stripping Wynn Resorts of its hard-fought Massachusetts license isn’t too far fetched.
“I think that nothing should be off the table, and I think that is what is at issue here,” he said.
But Steve Wynn or no Steve Wynn, the $2.4 billion Wynn Boston is moving forward all ahead full on the 33-acre property adjacent to the Mystic River and facing the Boston skyline.
The casino resort is considered to be the largest private development in the Bay State’s history.
The casino is looking at a June 2019 opening with 671 hotel rooms. So far, the company has spent $30 million on cleaning up the toxic waste site that was left by a hundred years of chemical manufacturing that ended when the Monsanto plant closed there.
That cleanup has restored the shoreline to what a was roughly two centuries ago and created a six acre park, walking and bike path and a large open space area.
Wynn has been replaced as CEO by its president Matt Maddox and by Boone Wayson as non-executive board chairman.
But it clearly is the situation in Massachusetts that inspired a separation agreement signed between Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts, clearing the way for Wynn to reduce his stake below the 5 percent level.
“Wynn Resorts has entered into a separation agreement with Steve Wynn that terminates any existing separation agreements in place,” said the company in an 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Wynn does not receive any separation payments, but continues to have healthcare coverage through 12/31/18, can continue to rent his villa through 6/1/18 (while paying market rental rate), and continues his administrative support through 5/31/18. Wynn agreed to a 2-year non-compete and to cooperate with Wynn Resorts in any private litigation or arbitration and/or any investigations by the company. Additionally, the company indicates that it has entered into an agreement providing: “ Mr. Wynn may not sell during any quarter after the date of such agreement more than one-third of the company shares he holds as of the date of such agreement.”
Under these strictures, Wynn could sell enough stock within six months to allow the company to maintain its Massachusetts license.
In Macau, some analysts say a company takeover could happen, possibly by an Asian casino company or U.S.-based competitor MGM Resorts International, as a result of the scandal.
But MGM CEO Jim Murren says that’s unlikely, due to the value of the company. “It’s a very large organization,” Murren told Bloomberg News. “It would be difficult to believe anyone is going to have the financial wherewithal to make a serious bid.”
But Matthew Ossolinski, chairman of gaming investment firm Ossolinski Holdings, has a different view. “Acquisition target? Absolutely,” he told CNBC. “These are some of the most prestigious casino properties in all of Asia, and this would be a jewel in the crown for a large Asian conglomerate which would be happy to pay a premium to have this sort of prestigious trophy buy.”
The $17 billion company rakes in most of its profits—some 75 percent—from Macau, where it has two resort properties, Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace. Wynn’s concession there is due to expire in 2022, at which time regulators will decide whether to renew the license.
Instead of hampering the chances for renewal, some say Wynn’s departure could actually make it easier for the company that bears his name.
“It takes off the pressure as far as Macau is concerned,” said Pedro Cortes, a senior partner with the Macau law firm Rato, Ling, Lei & Cortes.
According to the South China Morning Post, an unidentified source said Wynn won his license concession in 2002 due to his “remarkable achievements, one of which is that he managed to transform Las Vegas from a gambling destination into a family travel destination.”
If that’s true, reported the Macau Daily News, the scandal surrounding Wynn could make it a tougher go in the upcoming license renewal negotiations. Paulo Martins Chan, director of Macau’s gaming bureau, told reporters the DICJ would “conduct suitability checks on the newly-appointed board members of Wynn Macau. We are doing this in accordance with the law; and actually the checks have already been done on some of these board members.”
Wynn owns about 12 percent of the company, not enough to stand in the way of a sale under Macau regulations. But Wang Changbin, director of the Gaming Teaching & Research Center at Macao Polytechnic Institute, said if Steve Wynn himself is considered not suitable, “according to the law he should give up his shares.”
