Dec 20, 2005 1:45 pm US/Central
Gaming Board Revokes Gambling License
Emerald Casino Was State's Only Unused License
CHICAGO (AP) ―
Calling it a "stain on the gaming industry," the Illinois Gaming Board voted Tuesday to revoke the bankrupt Emerald Casino Inc.'s gambling license -- the state's only unused license.
The board voted 5-0 to follow the advice of an administrative law judge who recommended last month that the license be revoked.
Bob Clifford, an attorney for Emerald, said after the vote that Emerald would appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court.
Tuesday's vote was the end of the state's administrative process to revoke the license.
The administrative law judge, Abner Mikva, said Emerald's shareholders and officers made several misstatements or failed to provide required information to the Gaming Board. Mikva is the former U.S. Court of Appeals chief judge and congressman who oversaw hearings last summer aimed at revoking Emerald's license.
In his written recommendation, Mikva chastised Emerald and its principals for playing "fast and loose with the law and with the rules and regulations of IGB (the Illinois Gaming Board). Its modus operandi seemed to be, 'Catch me if you can,' rather than abide by the legal and ethical standards that the law imposes on those privileged to get a gambling license."
Gaming Board chairman Aaron Jaffe agreed on Tuesday.
"My feeling is they were caught, they lost their game of 'Catch me if you can,"' Jaffe said. "They were caught and they should lose their license."
Board member Charles Gardner called Emerald "a stain on the gaming industry."
The Gaming Board has been trying for years to revoke the license that was held by Emerald, which wanted to operate in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, over concerns that top company officials lied to regulators and some investors allegedly had ties to organized crime.
The license that was held by Emerald is the state's only unused one and has been dormant since 2001, when the board decided for the second time not to renew it. A revocation hearing began in 2002, but was put on hold two weeks later after Emerald was forced into bankruptcy and while the state worked out a settlement. That hearing resumed May 25.
The revocation means the state can hold an auction to reissue it to another casino company or the license can be owned by the state and then managed by an outside company, Attorney General Lisa Madigan has said.
Last year, the Gaming Board chose Isle of Capri Casino Inc. as the winning bidder for the license that was held by Emerald. But Madigan halted the deal and announced plans to resume the revocation hearing after saying she had concerns.
Like Emerald, Isle of Capri wanted to build in Rosemont, and Madigan said she had concerns about possible mob ties in Rosemont. Madigan has said that, if the Gaming Board revoked Emerald's license, Isle of Capri would no longer be the winning bidder and a new auction would be held.
In June, a judge ordered the Gaming Board to renew Emerald's license and allow it to be relocated to Rosemont. The board voted to do so, but started the renewal clock from the casino's 1999 renewal application, meaning the license was renewed for four years and expired again in 2003.
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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