IGT controversy continues

Friday, June 14, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

The integrity of the gaming regulating agency in Victoria, Australia, has been severely damaged by an investigation that revealed it accepted a payment of $200,000 from International Game Technology of Reno to cover the cost of an investigation into the company's business practices in Europe, the spokesman of the state's political opposition said Thursday.

State opposition spokesman Ted Baillieu said the government should order Victoria's Office of Gambling Regulation to return the payment to IGT if it agrees with the findings revealed in a recent report from a watchdog agency that investigated the payment, the Australian publication the Age reported.

The report by a state ombudsman revealed that gaming regulators and IGT accused each other of initiating the idea of a payment.

"Either the company is lying, the OGR is lying or the Gaming Minister is not telling us all he knows," Baillieu said, the Age reported.

Acting Premier John Thwaites said the report could lead to changes in the gaming regulator's role, and suggested that such payments could pre-determine a favorable outcome for gaming companies under investigation.

IGT's payment was intended to help cover the costs of an investigation into a scheme in which company employees underreported the costs of gambling devices to avoid paying duties involved in shipping gaming devices to Turkey. IGT said it self-reported the misdeeds to regulators worldwide and wasn't fined when regulators deemed it to be the act of a few rogue employees.

Vegas company reports loss

Gaming industry consultant American Vantage Cos. reported a loss of $244,000, or 5 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended April 30 compared to a loss of $322,000, or 7 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

The period represents the company's third quarter of its fiscal year 2002.

Costs and expenses increased due to financial consulting services and legal fees related to due diligence in connection with merger and acquisition activity.

The Las Vegas-based company had provided gaming consulting services to Table Mountain Casino & Bingo, a Native American gaming enterprise in Friant, Calif. until May 1999, when its contract was prematurely terminated by the Table Mountain Band of Indians. The company sold a 20-acre parcel of undeveloped land in North Las Vegas to P.T. Corp. and intends to sell other principal assets to provide cash resources to acquire, merge into or invest in other businesses.