Louisiana regulators working with Illinois on Binion license

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 1:37 a.m.

Louisiana casino regulators say they are cooperating with their Illinois counterparts to determine whether Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corp. should be allowed to continue operating a riverboat casino in Bossier City.

The Illinois Gaming Board has declared Horseshoe chairman Jack Binion unfit to hold a license in the state. The board detailed its reasons this week for denying Horseshoe a renewal of its license for the Empress Casino in Joliet, Ill.

Besides its Bossier City casino, Horseshoe has applied for a license for a second boat in that city. Binion also is awaiting a decision on a license renewal application for his current casino.

The Illinois board cited 19 regulatory compliance issues or questionable business practices by the casino company or Binion, including several in Bossier City. Illinois regulators said Horseshoe-Bossier City used shell minority vendors to mislead officials that the casino was satisfying minority business participation goals.

In an interview with The Times of Shreveport, Binion said he hid nothing from Louisiana regulators and the state was well aware of the situation dealing with minority vendors.

"That's one of the things I resent - how all of this has been portrayed," Binion said. "There were very few minority vendors in the state, and the state was well aware of it."

Gaming Control Board chairman Hillary Crain said regulators acted to stop the practice last year after they became aware of it.

The Illinois report also said that Binion asserted his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions during a federal grand jury investigation of former Gov. Edwin Edwards. Edwards was convicted in May of extorting applicants for riverboat casino licenses.

Binion said he had no dealings with Edwards and took the Fifth Amendment on his attorney's advice.

"I wasn't associated with Edwards at all," he said.

In a statement released in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana board said state police would continue with a suitability investigation of Binion for his license renewal and his application for the additional boat. After the investigation is completed, the board will decide what to do, the statement said.

Horseshoe has said it will challenge the Illinois board's decision.

A gambling critic in Louisiana said he did not expect much action by Louisiana regulators.

"We've witnessed a miracle in the evolution of the human species," said Walter Abbott, a board member of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. "The Illinois Gaming Board has actually grown a spine before our eyes. Now whether or not the bunch here (in Louisiana) does, don't look for it."