Nevada regulators to examine Illinois charges against Jack Binion

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 10:16 a.m.

Binion used improper business and credit practices at his downtown Horseshoe casino as well as his Illinois and Louisiana properties, a seven-page document released by the Illinois board shows.

The board identified 19 examples of improper conduct by Binion, which it used as the basis for its June 30 rejection of Binion's application to operate the Empress riverboat casino in Joliet, Ill.

Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Steve DuCharme, said some of the issues in the Illinois report have not been reviewed by Nevada regulators.

"We will explore each of these new allegations and make a determination about their merit," DuCharme told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Nevada's regulatory response could range from no penalty to a disciplinary complaint that could include fines and possibly a revocation of Binion's Nevada gaming license.

DuCharme said Binion told him that he could provide information to counter several of the charges.

Binion owns controlling interest in Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corp., self-described as the nation's largest privately held gambling company with casinos in Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Nevada. The company has 9,000 employees and annual revenue of approximately $1 billion.

Binion holds a Nevada gaming license because of his 1 percent interest in Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. Binion's sister, Becky Behnen, acquired control of the Horseshoe from her brother in 1998.

Binion's Horseshoe Gaming purchased the Illinois property and another riverboat casino in Indiana last year for $629 million.

Illinois Gaming Board Administrator Sergio Acosta and agency spokesman Gene O'Shea said they couldn't comment on the document because Binion has appealed the June ruling.

Binion and his Chicago lawyer, Anton Valukis, could not be reached for comment.

The Illinois Gaming Board approved Horseshoe Gaming's purchase of the Empress in December despite the objections of board investigators. According to Illinois law, if a corporation holds a gaming license, Illinois regulators must license its top corporate officers.

In Louisiana, where Horseshoe Gaming operates a hotel-casino in Bossier City, the board says Binion misled state officials about the scope of minority participation in the operation of the gaming property.

Illinois further charges that Binion violated the terms of business loans to benefit Horseshoe partners at the Louisiana hotel-casino.

As for Illinois, the document charges, Binion failed to notify the gaming board of lobbying contracts that were not made public, stock buybacks and changes in the casino's internal controls.

Horseshoe Gaming can continue operating the Empress Joliet until the appeal is decided.