In what has become a common way to resolve disputes edging toward court, the Empress Joliet Casino agreed Tuesday to pay $830,000 in fines without admitting wrongdoing.
In turn, the Illinois Gaming Board, which imposed the fines June 24, contended it achieved its objective and then waxed eloquent about the boat’s performance.
Board Administrator Michael Belletire announced the agreement at Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the board, at which the Grand Victoria casino’s formal pitch for license renewal in Elgin was heard and the resignation of board member Byron G. Cudmore was accepted.
The vast majority of the Empress Joliet’s fines stems from allegations that its management shared resources, including its database, managerial staff, computer software and reservation system, with its sister boat in Hammond without receiving proper approval from the board.
Illinois gaming officials also contended that Empress Joliet failed to price the transactions between the boats properly.
Board officials have suggested those alleged improprieties may have yielded lower gambling-tax revenue for Illinois.
The $830,000 in fines includes a $65,000 penalty leveled against the casino and one of its owners, Robert Kegley, for moving a blackjack table into his insurance office in New Lenox. Kegley agreed to pay the fine Tuesday.
“We both decided that we had to do things a little better,” said Empress Joliet attorney Michael Hansen. “Rather than go through protracted litigation, we just thought we should resolve our differences and move on.”
Hansen acknowledged the boat has made some changes that should prevent similar concerns in the future. Among them are installing a new president, Joe Canfora, who will oversee the Empress boats in Joliet and Hammond, and a new general manager of the Joliet boat, David Fendrick.
Empress Joliet has changed audit procedures and made other “internal controls” at the company, Hansen said.
“We’re also creating and instilling a friendly, but competitive, atmosphere among our people in Joliet and Hammond,” he said.
The agreement, which was approved unanimously, states, “The board acknowledges that the Empress has made reasonable efforts to meet objectives of the (Illinois Gaming) Act and its fiduciary duty to the state of Illinois and Empress Joliet.”
The board also acknowledged in the agreement that the Empress Joliet “positively contributed to the development of the riverboat gaming industry in Illinois and to the city of Joliet and the county of Will.”
Despite the collegial words of the agreement, Gaming Board President J. Thomas Johnson said the basis for the fines remained the same.
“We have not modified the reasons we set forth in the complaints,” Johnson said. “I think paying (the fines) does indicate that our allegations were not something they wanted to agree to, but which they acknowledged were legitimate.”
Grand Victoria’s pitch for license renewal included a providing Gaming Board members a tour of Elgin. Board members viewed more than $28 million of renovations funded from Grand Victoria revenue, including work throughout downtown.
The tour also stopped at the headquarters of Grand Victoria Foundation, the casino’s philanthropic arm, which since its creation in October has distributed more than $7.5 million to local non-profit organizations that concentrate on economic development, the environment and education.
Next year, the foundation is expected to distribute about $15 million in grants, said Executive Director Nancy Fishman.
Based on Johnson’s comments about the Grand Victoria’s operation, renewal of its license appears imminent at the board’s Oct. 21 meeting.
“This was phenomenal,” Johnson said of Grand Victoria’s impact in Elgin. “You see significant utilization of the dollars. This is accomplishing something.”
Cudmore, who was appointed to the board in 1995, stepped down on Sept. 4, when he accepted a job as a U.S. magistrate in Springfield. The governor appoints Gaming Board members, who are paid $300 per meeting.
