Jan 16, 2009 12:45 pm US/Central
Corrupt Business Ties Cost Waukegan Gaming License
Indicted Businessman William Cellini Stood To Profit, Gaming Board Says
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
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Gov. Jim Thompson with now-indicted businessman William Cellini.
CBS
A key reason the Illinois Gaming Board rejected a bid to put a casino in Waukegan was that indicted businessman William F. Cellini still stood to make money on the project.
In a letter explaining the decision, board Chairman Aaron Jaffe wrote that Cellini and his family could get hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Waukegan casino, despite statements from a Waukegan Gaming LLC executive in November that Cellini had sold his ownership stake in 2007.
"The Cellini group" continued "to hold a financial interest" if Waukegan was picked, Jaffe said in the newly released letter. "Michael Pizzuto, a longtime associate of Mr. Cellini who purchased the collective Cellini interests for $32,450, must pay the Cellini interests the balance of their prior costs in the Waukegan project, an amount in excess of $600,000."
Jaffe wrote that "the payment of prior costs may be disallowed," but that "does not abate our concern." Attempts to reach Waukegan Gaming officials and Cellini's lawyer were unsuccessful.
The winning bidder -- Midwest Gaming & Entertainment -- plans to put a casino in Des Plaines. It didn't offer the most money for the state's last casino license, so Illinois law required Jaffe to spell out reasons for rejecting Waukegan and another finalist suburb, Rosemont.
Cellini, a political power broker in Illinois since the 1960s, faces federal charges of helping shake down a firm seeking state business for campaign contributions to Gov. Blagojevich.
In discussing Rosemont, Jaffe indicated alleged mob links to a previous casino proposal in that village were a factor. "The village of Rosemont's reputation hurt Trilliant Gaming," he wrote.
Trilliant Gaming's bid for Rosemont had a "net present value" of $406 million, according to Jaffe, versus $272 million for Midwest Gaming's winning Des Plaines bid and $216 million for Waukegan.
Also, the board added former Cook County Undersheriff Jim Dvorak to a list of people it forbids from entering casinos over concerns about their reputations. Dvorak was convicted of fraud and bribery in the mid-1990s, then got involved in billboard and real estate companies that did business with Des Plaines' city government -- ties Des Plaines later cut.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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