Controversial payment by IGT to be refunded

Friday, July 12, 2002 | 10:54 a.m.

A payment made by slot machine maker International Game Technology to help pay for an investigation of IGT by Australian gaming regulators will be refunded to the Nevada company, the Herald-Sun newspaper in Australia reported today.

The Office of Gaming Regulation in the state of Victoria, Australia, accepted a payment of $200,000 after probing allegations of fraud against Reno-based IGT's European arm. The investigation, launched in 1998 after IGT reported it to regulators, has closed and didn't result in any fines for the company, company representatives have said.

A government watchdog agency investigated the payment and determined that regulators should not have accepted it. Victorian Ombudsman Barry Perry alleges that the payment could have produced a favorable outcome for IGT.

IGT was asked to help fund the investigation and has not been a party to the subsequent dispute in Australia about how the payment was handled by regulators, IGT Vice President of Marketing Ed Rogich said today.

The government in Victoria, Australia, is now conducting a review of the state's gaming laws that could lead to a repeal of the practice in which gaming companies help pay for government investigations into their business practices, according to Australian news reports.

Nevada regulators, as in many other gaming jurisdictions, make licensees foot the bill for initial background checks as well as subsequent business investigations.

"As a licensee, we will abide by whatever direction they establish," Rogich said of the Victorian government's review.