Nevada unlikely to move against Binion, Louisiana will continue investigation

Friday, Feb. 2, 2001 | 10:51 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Horseshoe Casino owner Jack Binion's decision to sell an Illinois riverboat will not affect an investigation to determine whether to renew his company's license for gambling in Bossier City, La., says Louisiana's top gambling regulator.

Binion agreed Tuesday to sell his interest in the Empress Casino at Joliet, Ill., rather than fight a finding by the Illinois Gaming Control Board that he is unsuitable to be a casino investor in that state.

Last year, the board approved Horseshoe's acquistion of the Empress, but Binion was rejected as an investor because of questions about his business dealings and associations in Nevada and Louisiana.

Currently, the Horseshoe in Bossier City is undergoing a suitability investigation in Louisiana for relicensing. Horseshoe also has applied for Louisiana's 15th and final riverboat casino license, which would be used to put in a second dockside casino in Bossier City.

Hillary Crain, chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, said state police are concentrating primarily on the company's business practices in Louisiana and any activity outside the state that would affect Binion and Horseshoe Gaming LLC's suitability to have a Louisiana license.

"The state police have not completed (their investigation) and have not made a report to me about it," Crain said. "I haven't heard anything about the Illinois deal. I heard there was something going on there, but I haven't heard the specifics."

Riverboat gaming licenses in Louisiana are granted for five years, and Horseshoe was due for relicensing in July 1999. The board decided to re-examine each of the boats licensed under the old Riverboat Gaming Commission.

Binion, called to testify before the federal grand jury investigating former Gov. Edwin Edwards, took Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions.

Illinois investigators questioned how Binion awarded equity in the Bossier City Horseshoe to local partners, how those partners were paid, loans to the partners and shell companies created and used to skirt local minority supplier goals.

Horseshoe spokesman Guy Chipparoni said Binion does not intend to sell out of the casino business.

"Jack has reached an agreement with the Illinois Gaming Control Board to basically sell the property within the near future," Chipparoni said. "It will allow him to move forward in the other markets that he's presently doing business in and in future potential markets."

Horseshoe also has floating casinos in Hammond, Ind. and Tunica, Miss.

Much of the Illinois report was based on Binion's activities while owner of Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, which he managed from 1964 to 1998. Binion sold most of the Horseshoe's stock to sister Becky Behnen in 1998, but still holds about 1 percent of its stock -- and, as a result, has a Nevada gaming license.

But a re-examination of Binion's suitability for a Nevada license is unlikely to result from the Illinois action, said Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander, as the board and commission were already aware of the issues covered in the Illinois report. However, he said the control board will continue to monitor the situation.