\nBOSTON (AP) \u2013 New hurdles are emerging for Wynn Resorts as it prepares to build a $1.6 billion resort casino on the Everett waterfront after winning the lucrative casino license for the Boston area.<\/p>\n
\tSomerville filed a lawsuit last week against the state Gaming Commission asking a state court judge to void the Wynn license.<\/p>\n
\tThe city argues regulators should have disqualified the company or at least required it to abandon its proposed site after it became public that a convicted felon had a financial interest in the land deal, a violation of state law.<\/p>\n
\tMeanwhile, the gambling commission\u2019s staff last week disclosed it is conducting an inquiry after the Wall Street Journal reported that the IRS\u2019s criminal investigation division requested information on Wynn\u2019s clients, domestic and overseas marketing offices and internal controls. The newspaper said federal authorities are probing whether the Las Vegas-based gambling giant violated money laundering laws.<\/p>\n
\tThose developments come as the casino is focused on plans to clean up the polluted former Monsanto chemical plant site ahead of breaking ground on the project.<\/p>\n
\tAnd Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said this week that his administration is still in talks with the casino on a possible compensation agreement since the resort is expected to impact traffic in and around Sullivan Square.<\/p>\n
\tAnti-casino activists say the Somerville lawsuit, which follows one filed in October by the city of Revere, is unsurprising.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSomerville has been pretty open about its intention to try to slow down if not stop the project,\u201d said John Ribeiro, head of Repeal the Casino Deal.<\/p>\n
\tThe gaming commission said the suit repeats allegations already investigated by its staff. \u201cThe Commission continues to believe firmly that its approach to the land transaction was fully in keeping with its statutory and regulatory obligations and fully protected the public interest,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\tBut Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, a vocal opponent of casinos, fired back this week: \u201cThe gaming commission hasn\u2019t really done much to really build the confidence of the public. \u2026 To say they\u2019ve thoroughly investigated the worst kept secret in mankind is really a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBoston College economics professor Richard McGowan, who studies the gambling industry, said the money laundering allegations could have wider implications than the lawsuits, which he considers longshots.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt makes it look like the commission did not do a very good job of due diligence,\u201d he said. \u201cIt also puts a stain on the whole process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tKaren Wells, director of the gaming commission\u2019s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau, told commission members last week that her office was unaware of the IRS\u2019s August information request until a Wynn official emailed the Wall Street Journal article that was published late last month.<\/p>\n
\tWynn maintains it is not aware of any criminal investigation related to money laundering and has declined to comment on the Somerville and Revere lawsuits.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe\u2019ve not received notice that the company is under investigation,\u201d said Michael Weaver, a casino spokesman. \u201cRequests for information from agencies and regulators occur in the casino industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIn other casino developments, MGM Resorts International hosted an information session Thursday in Springfield for contractors, vendors and construction suppliers. The company is preparing to break ground next year on an $800 million downtown Springfield casino.<\/p>\n
\tAnd the owners of the former Raynham dog track say they may seek a state license to build a resort casino at the Brockton Fairgrounds.<\/p>\n
\tThe Carney family had hoped to convert Raynham Park, now a simulcast betting facility, into a slots parlor, but the gaming commission awarded that license to Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville.<\/p>\n
\tThe deadline to submit applications for the remaining casino license, which is reserved for the southeastern Massachusetts region, is Jan. 30.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BOSTON (AP) \u2013 New hurdles are emerging for Wynn Resorts as it prepares to build a $1.6 billion resort casino on the Everett waterfront after winning the lucrative casino license for the Boston area. Somerville filed a lawsuit last week…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}