Illinois OKs casino purchase over investigators’ objections

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2000 | 9:54 a.m.

Investigators for the Illinois Gaming Board reported in November that Binion's record was so full of questionable practices and associations that he should be barred from the casino business in Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported in today's editions.

Shortly afterward, on Nov. 30, the Gaming Board approved a $609 million deal for Binion's Horseshoe Gaming to buy the Empress riverboat casinos in Joliet and Hammond, Ind.

The staff report said Binion, the chairman and CEO of Horseshoe, left "a trail of poor business practices, regulatory violations and financial malpractice."

Binion's attorney, Anton Valukas, said the report is full of inaccuracies and misinterpretations.

"Some of these charges are frankly scurrilous," he said.

According to the report, Binion put up $2 million in 1993 to bail of jail a high-stakes gambler the Nevada Gaming Control Board said was associated with narcotics and firearms sales and money laundering.

"When pursuing his personal interests or those of his friends, Mr. Binion appears to view such laws ... as obstacles to circumvent rather than standards he is obliged to follow," the Illinois staff report said. "The result has been a trail of poor business practices, regulatory violations and financial malpractice."

The regulators' decision, on a 3-1 vote, came on the last day before Dec. 1 deadlines for financing and regulatory approval that could have sunk the deal.

Gaming Board Chairman Robert Vickrey, who voted for the purchase, has said even though Binion's company was approved Binion himself must pass more scrutiny before receiving an individual license allowing him to become a gambling executive in Illinois.