Mirage executive scrutinized over taxes

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000 | 10:48 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- He wrote off $8,965 for a "phantom" personal computer, reported his gambling losses as a business expense and told the IRS he drove 180,000 miles on a car found to have traveled only 69,000 total miles.

Did Mirage Resorts Inc. Atlantic City casino executive Mark Juliano lie on his tax returns, or were he and his accountant just sloppy?

That was the question facing New Jersey casino regulators Wednesday.

They could deal the former Caesars Atlantic City president out of the casino business here for discrepancies on four years worth of tax returns.

The returns showed Juliano paid $1.4 million in taxes on $3.7 million in total income for 1995, 1996 and 1997, or $55,996 less than he would have if he had filed accurate information about his business expenses.

They were flagged by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement as part of a routine renewal application for his casino key employee license.

A rising star in the business, Juliano, 44, of Haddonfield, entered it as a seating captain at Resorts International in 1978 and worked his way to the top job at Caesars by 1995.

By that point, he was earning $2.1 million annually and working 80-hour weeks. Combined with extensive community and charity work, the job left Juliano little time for much else -- including keeping track of his personal finances, he said.

The tax returns were prepared by an out-of-state CPA who was a gambler at Caesars, with input from Juliano. The two spoke by telephone but never met in person to prepare the returns, a contrite Juliano said Wednesday during a hearing before state Casino Control Commission chairman James Hurley.

Hurley has 45 days to render a decision, which then must be approved or rejected by the full commission to take effect.