Complications are piling onto complications in the license that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has granted to Wynn Resorts to build a .6 billion casino resort in Everett.
Due to allegations made in a November 20 Wall Street Journal story that the federal government, including the Internal Revenue Service and Drug Enforcement Administration, is investigating the gaming giant over whether it may have violated money laundering statutes, the commission has decided to conduct its own investigation.
The bureau will report back to the commission on what its review uncovers. Commissioner Gayle Cameron told bureau staff, “I know you’re in the process of gathering those facts and certainly that’s wise to do that before there are any findings in this matter, and the need to let another agency’s inquiry go forward, I think that’s important as well.”
Wynn maintains that it has received no notification that it is being investigated; although it noted that it had received some requests for information by the IRS. “Requests for information from agencies and regulators occur in the casino industry,” said a spokesman.
In a related development, the city of Somerville has sued the gaming commission, asking that the license it granted to Wynn be voided. The lawsuit argues that the commission should have disqualified Wynn once it became known that the site he had optioned in Everett was connected to a known crime figure, Charles Lightbody. Wynn claims to have been unaware of Lightbody’s participation in the ownership group. Somerville is adjacent to Everett.
The commission says the allegations raised by the lawsuit have already been addressed by probe by the commission’s Investigations and Enforcement arm.
This prompted Somerville Mayor Joseph Curatone to respond, “The gaming commission hasn’t really done much to really build the confidence of the public. To say they’ve thoroughly investigated the worst-kept secret in mankind is really a joke.”
The mayor is a stalwart opponent of gaming in the Bay State and has opposed the Wynn project from the beginning.
Richard McGowan, an economics professor at Boston College who specializes in gaming, told the Associated Press, “It makes it look like the commission did not do a very good job of due diligence. It also puts a stain on the whole process.”
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said last week that he remains in discussion with Wynn on a compensation agreement with the developer to help mitigate traffic impact on Sullivan Square in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston.
Although the mayor strenuously opposed the Wynn casino, Steve Wynn has said that now that they are forced to work together that he intends to make friends and help the project be a win-win for the city.
Towards that end, Wynn may be in a position to help the city win its bid to host the 2024 Olympics. Putting his extensive resources to work to help the city win the Olympics has been suggested by some, especially since Wynn’s strategy is to build a resort that will help attract an international clientele of high rollers, just the sort of people that like to attend events like the Olympics.
Charles Yelen of the Boston Globe suggested last week that Wynn should be recruited to help the city. “Getting Wynn into the game the right way is critical; it would literally be like winning the gold,” he wrote.
Southeastern Gaming Zone
Meanwhile the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe moved another step closer to being able to build its Project First Light Casino in Taunton.
Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell last week announced that the tribe has published its final environmental impact report (FEIR) for the proposed $500 million casino. “This report is the final step in the state’s environmental review process and helps us stay on track to bring thousands of jobs to southeastern Massachusetts,” he said. The 700-page FEIR was conducted according to the state’s environmental laws.
Cromwell told Indian Country Today, “This report supports the environmental impact and offsite mitigation that we needed to get done to protect the commonwealth, the City of Taunton, and surrounding towns. This is an important and time-consuming process to have completed.”
The public has until January 9, 2015 to submit comments on the report.
The tribe owns 151 acres in the town, which it has applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put into trust. Cromwell says he believes that BIA will give the tribe a positive ruling on its application soon. “It should happen in the very near future. I’m very comfortable and confident about where we are, and that we have done all the right things,” he said.
MGM Springfield
Supporters of the MGM Springfield have always said that building the casino resort downtown would spur business development. This appears to be borne out by the announcement last week that developer Peter A. Picknelly will be converting a vacant six-story building into a hotel and that the involvement of the casino developer was key to that happening.
The 120-room boutique hotel, to be located about a block from the casino, is expected to cost $40 million. Picknelly and MGM signed an agreement to make it a joint project.
Picknelly told reporters, “We are really excited about participating in this great project for Springfield. My father always thought it was the best use. A boutique hotel without MGM would not be possible. It’s good to see his vision of years ago is now likely to come to fruition.” Just how much MGM will participate is subject to further negotiations, he said.
Slots Parlor
The five-person commission last week unanimously voted to authorize a pilot program that encourages players to self-limit their bets at the first of the Bay State’s casinos scheduled to open, the $225 million Plainridge Park Casino that is being built by Penn National Gaming and which is looking at opening in June of 2015.
It will be the first voluntary “play management” system to be tried in the United States. Players will set voluntary limits on how much they intend to wager. They can set limits per day, week or month. They will be reminded as they approach their limit, and will be required to acknowledge receiving the message before continuing.
Yet to be decided is whether players will be rewarded with loyalty points for staying within their limitations, a practice that is vehemently opposed by casino operators. They argue that many players would set unrealistic limits so that they could stay within them and be rewarded.
Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said that the program is part of the commission’s commitment to ameliorate the negative social aspects of gaming in the state, as required by the 2011 expanded gaming act.
The slots parlor is more than halfway completed. It will be adjacent to the existing racetrack and will deploy 1,250 slots plus video poker and video blackjack. It will also have a sports bar with a Doug Flutie theme, a fine dining restaurant and a food court.
Plainville is a town of more than 8,000. It will collect an estimated $1.5 million in property taxes annually, a $2.5 million host community fee each year, plus several other associated fees.
The three casino developers, including Penn, MGM Springfield and Wynn Resorts have reluctantly agreed to help the commission develop these “play management” procedures, Crosby said. The pilot program will last two years, after which time its results will be evaluated.
Crosby told reporters, “We’ve been very, very careful to make sure that it doesn’t get in the way of the positive experience for the 90 percent or so of people who gamble without any risk at all, and that was a very high priority to the operators.” He added, “We want to give them the tools to make informed decisions in a rational state of mind, and after that it’s pretty much up to them.”
