Gaming Commission Set To Act; Dotting I’s and Crossing T’s Before Releasing Findings
Will Wynn Keep Its License? Wynn Officials Concerned.
By Josh Resnek
The Gaming Commission will do nothing whatsoever to Wynn Resorts when the findings of its investigation have been revealed, according to two experts claiming to have an insight into the investigation.
The MGC report and any actions to be taken will be discussed in public at a meeting expected to take place most likely during the second week of September, according to the sources, both of whom wished to remain unnamed.
“They won’t take the license from Wynn Resorts. They will receive a slap on the wrist. Their entire investigation will be meaningless,” said one of the sources, a longtime observer of the GMC.
“The commission has constantly bent their rules for Wynn Resorts and this will continue. There is simply too much at stake,” said the source.
The second source referred to a Forbes Magazine article that appeared on August 20 making the case that the GMC will have to rule against Wynn Resorts if it is to keep continuity with its previous actions and thinking.
“For me,” said the source, “when Wynn’s chief lawyer Ms. Sinatra was forced out at 7 p.m. on a Friday afternoon out of the blue, that was a sign of other things to come,” he said.
He claimed that Sinatra was forced out moments after the GMC noticed Wynn Resorts that “she needs to be gone or you will be gone.”
However, this source agreed that how the GMC acted previously doesn’t enter into the equation with Wynn Resorts because their stake is much too big and too much is at stake, that the city of Everett could go broke if the Wynn license is taken away.
The Forbes piece indicates the Wynn Resorts license could be taken away if the findings of the investigation are treated with gravitas.
Also, the Forbes piece, appearing in a national magazine, out distances anything the Globe has done or has failed to do regarding the controversy and the investigation.
“This recent investigation into the Wynn organization is going to be critical of the rights of its employees to speak up about any wrongdoing, not just harassment. As such, the culture of the organization will be a major part of the investigation and it will be revealing. Most certainly, Wynn has instituted changes… (but will they be enough) wrote Walter Pavlo in Forbes.
“MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby has noted that he is well aware of the impact that his decision could have on the city of Everett, a working class town known more for its industrial sites than tourist attractions. Most everyone can agree that this casino project has brought great paying construction jobs to the area and will result in residual jobs for many years. However, should MGC even consider the economic implications in their decision? It is not like they can say, ‘well, the casino operator is a charlatan, but he will bring jobs to the area.’ This does not make sense,” wrote Pavlo.
“The casino licensing project in Massachusetts, particularly the Everett/Boston site, has been controversial from the start. During Wynn’s struggle to gain the license, there were allegations that organized crime was involved in the ownership of the land on which the casino now sits. Though those were later proven to be untrue, they were unsettling to Steve Wynn who has been shadowed by accusations of association with organized crime members over decades in the gaming business. MGC asked Steve Wynn about the land in Everett during a rambling 6-hour interview it conducted on September 9, 2013 as part of its original suitability study. During that interview they asked Mr. Wynn about his knowledge of the ownership of the land in Everett, MA and he became angry.
He went on a tirade about his own reputation and how it towered above everyone else’s reputation.
He argued passionately that he’d have nothing to do with a land deal that was crooked and that for anyone to assume he knew anything about the players in on the land deal that they were terribly mistaken.
He painted a picture of himself as someone way beyond the fray – a picture he could never paint again given what has been revealed about him since he resigned.