NJ hearings to probe casino operator

Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1999 | 11:43 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas is set to undergo three days of hearings before the New Jersey Casino Control Commission as that body probes the activities of predecessor Bally Entertainment Corp. during a 1994 campaign to legalize gambling in Florida.

The hearing begins today and continues through Thursday. Park Place Chairman Arthur Goldberg is scheduled to testify.

The Press of Atlantic City reported the commission intends to investigate Bally's hiring of Bolley "Bo" Johnson, former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, during the 1994 campaign. Johnson was hired while still House speaker, and was paid $240,500 as a "real estate consultant," according to New Jersey investigators.

The casino measure failed to make it on the ballot, and Bally did not revive its efforts in 1996.

Johnson is now serving a two-year prison sentence for tax evasion on $1.6 million in payments he and his wife accepted over a four-year period. Those payments include funds received from Bally.

This week's hearings will focus on the payments to Johnson and Bally's motives. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is set to release a report on the Florida incident today.

"We don't believe the conduct as reflected in our report is license-threatening," DGE Director J.P. Suarez told the Press. "We think what's at stake is for (Park Place) to be able to explain their actions so that the commission is comfortable with at least their explanations and is doing everything they could be doing to hold to the highest standards of conduct and propriety."