Documents delayed regarding sale of Greektown Casino shares

Tuesday, May 2, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

Lawyers for the investors asked for an extension just an hour before the 5 p.m. Monday deadline.

"They will complete the documents and submit them in the next couple of days," said Nelson Westrin, executive director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board. "At this time, obviously, we want it sooner rather than later."

The casino's licensing had originally been scheduled to start in March, but owners asked for more time to work out details of the sale.

Annoyed gaming board members then laid out a series of deadlines. Although the casino did not meet the latest one, Westrin said he is satisfied that he group is making progress.

"We know it's complicated, and there's a lot of attorneys involved," Westrin told The Detroit News.

The gaming board is scheduled to vote May 16 on whether to approve the sale. That date may be changed if officials do not have enough time to review Greektown's documents.

"Our concern is that we get them with enough time to thoroughly analyze them to thoroughly analyze them and for the board to have time to review them," Westrin told the Detroit Free Press.

Investors Jim Papas, his wife Viola Papas, Ted Gatzaros and his wife Maria Gatzaros own 40 percent of Greektown Casino but are selling their shares because gaming board investigators found problems in their business backgrounds.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians owns half of the casino. A group of minority investors owns the other 10 percent.

The Free Press, citing people close to the negotiations, reported the most likely buyer would be Millennium Management, the Nevada group contracted to manage the $149 million casino, which is 99 percent finished.

MGM Grand Inc., which owns another Detroit casino, also has made an offer for the Greektown shares, but that may pose problems because state law prohibits a group that owns more than 10 percent of a licensed casino to buy into another group.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which operates casinos in 10 states and Australia, also was a finalist to buy the shares. The couples have put off Harrah's bid because it made the lowest offer, the News reported.