The Bicycle Casino is including another chapter that is scandalous its notorious story. The Southern California cardroom and hotel outside of Los Angeles in Bell Gardens was raided by federal officials on Tuesday early morning, but law enforcement departments are remaining quiet on the details of the operation.
Governor Jerry Brown (D), left, attended the ribbon cutting of the Bicycle Casino’s hotel expansion in 2015 alongside Bike Managing General Partner and CEO Hashem Minaiy. Couple of years later, the owners are now allegedly entangled in a federal financial investigation.
The raid is being carried down by the united states Department of Homeland Security, and its own Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to media that are local, the usa Attorney’s Office, IRS, Ca Bureau of Gambling Control, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are also involved.
ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said, ‘Because the warrant is under seal, we are not able to comment on the scope or nature of the investigation.’
Nonetheless, Fox 11 in l . a . says the sting is in reaction to alleged money laundering allegations at the casino. All gambling happens to be shutdown as investigators sweep the Bike, since it’s affectionately known.
Since 1996, FinCEN has required casinos to file Currency Transaction Reports for any customer transacting $10,000 or more in a day that is single.
Dirty Money Crackdown
All signs point to allegations of not properly tracking and reporting money coming in and out of the casino while the government isn’t saying the prime motive for their raid of the Bike. It’s not the time that is first cardroom in the Golden State has been accused of such criminality.
FinCEN in the past few years has placed a focus on making sure casinos stick to the deal process that is reporting stringent as banking and financial institutions.
In January of the year, Los Angeles’ Hawaiian Gardens Casino, that will be just a dozen kilometers from the Bike, was raided by federal authorities. FinCEN said Hawaiian Gardens failed to report large deals and dubious task.
And fall that is last the previous owners of the Normandie Casino were ordered to cover $2.4 million for admittedly violating federal financial reporting laws and regulations. Owned by the Miller household since 1947, the Normandie was sold to Larry Flynt who has since renamed it the Lucky Lady.
While cardrooms in California continue steadily to make money laundering headlines, the Financial Action Task Force recently stated that casinos ‘have not merely increased their compliance . . . but have put in place measures that are mitigating the requirements for the Bank Secrecy Act.’
Bike’s Scandalous Past
The Bike provides a variety of games poker that is including blackjack. Six years after its opening in 1984, the government that is federal ownership of the casino after a jury discovered that $12 million of the property’s $22 million construction price was funded through a drug network in Florida.
Original owner Sam Gilbert was accused of funneling drug money profits stemming from a cannabis enterprise that is smuggling Florida to construct the casino in California. In trade for his activity that is criminal received 60 percent ownership of the Bike.
The United States government sold its stake in the Bicycle Casino in 1996 for $25.3 million. The casino is now privately owned under the ongoing company name Bicycle Hotel & Casino LLC.
Indiana Casinos Fight to Stay Above Water, Look to State for Help
With declining revenues and fewer people gambling on the past 10 years, Indiana’s 13 gambling enterprises are facing difficult times. Now they’re jointly lobbying the state legislature to bail them out.
Many state lawmakers aren’t so ready to open up the checkbook and so are considering ways to make the facilities more self-sufficient.
Indiana casinos are dealing with a serious decrease in revenue since the number of gamblers has dropped significantly within the last 10 years. They’ve been asking the state legislature for assistance. (Image: Hollywood Casino/Indiana)
Current House Bill AB 1350 is making its means through the governing human body and is trying to satisfy both the businesses plus the Hoosier State’s significance of income tax dollars. Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, (R-Noblesville) told The Republic that the two must locate a real way to coexist.
‘we are in essence lovers with this industry it or not,’ Kenley said whether we like. ‘we should keep them healthy, but we wish them to pay a lot of taxes to your state of Indiana.’
Facing Stark Reality
Since 2007, the true number of people patronizing these companies has dropped down 40 percent to 16.7 million. Not surprisingly, taxation revenue has additionally dropped in the same time duration. It is down 30 percent to $600 million.
Ten years ago the state enjoyed significantly of a monopoly along with casinos located near borders, were attracting out of city customers. Now with Ohio and Michigan providing closer choices, and Illinois considering an area near the Indiana line, the grip that is once ironclad consumers has loosened.
Sen. Jon Ford, (R-Terre Haute) views this while the primary reason an adjustment is going to possess become made.
‘we have lost the Ohio border, we’ve lost the Michigan-Indiana border, and now Illinois is aggressively coming he said after us.
Making More with Less
AB 1350’s main supply is eliminating the $3 per-person admissions tax imposed in the state’s riverboats and replacing it with a supplemental income tax capped at 3.5 per cent for a casino’s adjusted gross receipts. Officials state the tax is outdated and if someone is staying at the hotel then entering the casino, the resort is getting double taxed on the same person.
Legislators mostly agreed upon that component, nevertheless the hold harmless funding section is contentious. Hold funding that is harmless the quantity of money given to communities that have establishments in their area.
Originally there clearly was a call to lessen the $48 million amount doled out to cities and counties, but it had been put back within the Senate version and a fight has developed on whether it should remain or go. It is yet to be seen which side will win the debate.
Wynn Resorts Sues Elaine Wynn Over Secret Copied File Stash
Wynn Resorts is suing its co-founder that is former and, Elaine Wynn, for punitive damages on the grounds that she superstitiously permitted her attorneys to copy computer hard drives belonging to the company.
Elaine and Steve Wynn, pictured here in happier times, are engaged in a complete war that is blown of flowers over a 2010 investors agreement that bars Elaine from selling her almost 1 billion equity in Wynn Resorts. (Image: zimbio.com)
It is the salvo that is latest in a long-running war of the roses between Wynn and her estranged spouse, Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn. Elaine is seeking to regain control of her 10 percent stake in the company she formed with her ex in 2000, currently worth almost $1 billion.
As part of the final breakup settlement in 2010 the couple split their stakes in Wynn Resorts evenly, while Steve, as CEO, agreed to always reelect his ex-wife to the board of directors. In return Elaine Wynn agreed to a supply that she wouldn’t offer her shares without the business’s permission.
Relations Deteriorate
The settlement was amicable, nevertheless the fight kicked off in 2012 when Wynn Resorts sued its major shareholder, the Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada, and ousted him from the board over allegations that he bribed a Philippine video gaming regulators in order to secure a license for the project that eventually became the Okada Manila, which Wynn was not involved in.
Okada coounter-sued, and sensing her moment, Elaine joined up with the lawsuit so that they can extricate herself from the shareholders agreement that banned her from selling her stocks.
Wynn Resorts resolved she was in breach of fiduciary duties to your company and ousted her from the board.
Elaine recently petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court for whistle-blower security in connection to allegations of securities violations by Wynn Resorts, after being refused protection by the Las Vegas trial judge presiding throughout the case.
Covert Operations
However in the latest filing, Wynn Resorts claims Elaine’s allegations derive from privileged information that her previous her lawyers secretly copied from personal company files in 2013. They also claim lawyers produced image that is forensic of associate’s computer.
‘ Whether Elaine and her agents covertly accessed even extra information than they copied may never be known,’ the company said in the filing. ‘The computer systems were attached to Wynn Resorts’ corporate network and Elaine didn’t supervise her attorneys.’
Elaine, meanwhile, claims she was merely following a advice of her legal group, she had not told Wynn Resorts that the information had been accessed and copied although she admitted.
‘I relied on their counsel to follow their directions,’ she said in during a hearing last week. ‘ And they desired to image my computer, and therefore I cooperated with that demand.’
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Defends Opulent Spending, But Not Everybody Is on Board
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is defending its investing practices this week after the city’s Review-Journal (LVRJ) news site, the most news that is circulated in Nevada, published a report showcasing the us government agency’s extravagant budget and expenses.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Chairman Lawrence Weekly states his agency’s tax-funded spending is warranted in advertising the city, but some expenses look more like lavish entertainment than legitimate costs. (Image: Mark Damon/Las Las Vegas Information Bureau)
The LVCVA is tasked with attracting site visitors towards the Mojave Desert by showcasing las vegas’s world-class entertainment, dining, shopping, and more. A subdivision of the State of Nevada, the authority is comprised of 14 principal officers, with six people coming through the sector that is private.
In accordance with disclosures that are financial by the LVRJ, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority invested nearly $700,000 on alcohol in the last 3 years, $85,000 on adult entertainment and showgirls, and thousands of dollars on concerts and shows. The news source claims to have reviewed over 32,000 pages of receipts.
Board members associated with the LVCVA defended such lavish spending as the cost it takes to attract marquee conventions and activities.
Lawrence Weekly, who is a Clark County commissioner and chairs the LVCVA, explained of attempting to entice decision makers, ‘You’ve got to give something to get something.’
He later tweeted, ‘Vegas means company. LVCVA are doing just that . . . Working to keep us in that #1 spot.’
LVCVA on the Defensive
Finding some body completely not really acquainted with what Las Vegas is a task that is nearly impossible. That is at the very least what critics associated with LVCVA argue.
Casino resorts also spend millions on advertising campaigns each year, along with Vegas’ well-known reputation, no matter whether it’s positive or negative, the fact is that the town doesn’t need much explanation.
The Review-Journal found that nevada spends $3.39 per visitor on marketing, second to only St. Petersburg, Florida, which spends $3.89. St. Petersburg is no Las Vegas, however, as many are most likely clueless as to which coast of the Sunshine State the city also resides on ( it is the Gulf, FYI).
The authority says its power to stay the country’s top convention and trade show location warrants such wining and dining. According to Applied Analysis, a Nevada-based economic and video gaming research company, tourism generated almost $60 billion for the Vegas economy in 2016.
The LVCVA also points to its recent honor through the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The Chicago-headquartered organization reviews state and town financial management agencies, as well as for the 33rd consecutive year, awarded the LVCVA by having a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
‘To continuously win these . . . is a significant accomplishment,’ LVCVA member Bill Noonan said month that is last.
Tax Dollars at Enjoy
The authority is largely funded through the Clark County hotel occupancy tax. Of the estimated $705 million the tax is expected to come up with in 2017, 33.2 % of each dollar will go into the coffers of the LVCVA. That trumps perhaps the Clark County School district (13.1 %) and Nevada school that is public (24.3 percent.)
Final November, the Nevada State Legislature authorized a bill that advances the tax by 0.88 percent to 12.88 per cent. The increase will be used to deliver $750 million to help build the home that is future of Las Vegas Raiders NFL franchise.
While nearly all funds are utilized to market Vegas and cater to visitors that are potential LVCVA Chairman Weekly accepted $33,000 worth of meals and travel since 2014. Authority CEO Rossi Ralenkotter made $768,000 in salary, bonuses, and benefits in 2016, and Mayor that is former Oscar was paid $72,000 to appear at promotional events.