Bike Casino in Southern California Raided by Federal Investigators

The Bicycle Casino is adding another scandalous chapter to its notorious story. The Southern California cardroom and hotel outside of l . a . in Bell Gardens was raided by federal officials on Tuesday morning, but law enforcement divisions are remaining peaceful on the information on the procedure.
Governor Jerry Brown (D), left, attended the ribbon cutting of the Bicycle Casino’s hotel expansion in 2015 alongside Bike Managing General Partner and CEO Hashem Minaiy. Couple of years later, the owners are now actually allegedly entangled in a federal financial investigation.
The raid has been carried away by the usa Department of Homeland Security, and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to local media reports, the myfreepokies.com US Attorney’s Office, IRS, Ca Bureau of Gambling Control, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are also involved.
ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said, ‘Because the warrant is under seal, we are not able to comment regarding the range or nature of the investigation.’
Nevertheless, Fox 11 in l . a . says the sting is in reaction to alleged money laundering allegations at the casino. All gambling is shutdown as investigators sweep the Bike, since it’s affectionately known.
Since 1996, FinCEN has required casinos to file Currency Transaction Reports for just about any customer transacting $10,000 or even more in a day that is single.
Dirty Money Crackdown
While the government isn’t saying the prime motive for their raid of the Bike, all signs point to allegations of not properly tracking and reporting cash coming in and away from the casino. It is not the first time a cardroom in the Golden State has been accused of such criminality.
FinCEN in the past few years has placed a focus on making yes casinos stick to the transaction process that is reporting stringent as banking and banking institutions.
In of this year, Los Angeles’ Hawaiian Gardens Casino, which is just a dozen miles from the Bike, was raided by federal authorities january. FinCEN said Hawaiian Gardens failed to report large deals and activity that is suspicious.
And final fall, the previous owners of the Normandie Casino were ordered to pay for $2.4 million for admittedly breaking federal financial reporting rules. Owned by the Miller household since 1947, the Normandie was sold to Larry Flynt who has since renamed it the Lucky Lady.
The Financial Action Task Force recently reported that casinos ‘have not merely increased their compliance . . while cardrooms in Ca continue to make cash laundering headlines . but also have invest place mitigating measures above certain requirements associated with the Bank Secrecy Act.’
Bike’s Scandalous Past
The Bike provides a variety of games poker that is including blackjack. Six years following its opening in 1984, the government that is federal ownership of the casino after a jury unearthed that $12 million associated with the property’s $22 million construction expense was funded through a drug system in Florida.
Original owner Sam Gilbert was accused of funneling drug money profits stemming from a cannabis smuggling enterprise in Florida to create the casino in California. As a swap for his activity that is criminal received 60 percent ownership of the Bike.
The United States government sold its stake in the Bicycle Casino in 1996 for $25.3 million. The casino is now privately owned under the ongoing company name Bicycle Hotel & Casino LLC.
Indiana Casinos Fight to Stay Above Water, Look to State for Help
With declining revenues and fewer people gambling on the previous 10 years, Indiana’s 13 casinos are dealing with hard times. Now they have been jointly lobbying the state legislature to bail them out.
But some state lawmakers aren’t so ready to start up the checkbook and so are evaluating ways to result in the facilities more self-sufficient.
Indiana casinos are dealing with a serious decrease in revenue because the number of gamblers has dropped dramatically within the last few 10 years. They truly are asking the state legislature for help. (Image: Hollywood Casino/Indiana)
Current House Bill AB 1350 is making its way through the governing human body and is trying to fulfill both the businesses therefore the Hoosier State’s dependence on taxation dollars. Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, (R-Noblesville) told The Republic that the two must find a way to coexist.
‘we are in essence partners with this industry it or not,’ Kenley said whether we like. ‘We want to keep them healthy, but we wish them to pay a large amount of taxes to the state of Indiana.’
Facing Stark Truth
Since 2007, the wide range of people patronizing these organizations has dropped down 40 per cent to 16.7 million. Not interestingly, taxation revenue has also dropped in the same time period. It’s down 30 percent to $600 million.
Ten years ago the state enjoyed significantly of a monopoly sufficient reason for casinos located near borders, were attracting out of city customers. Now with Ohio and Michigan providing closer choices, and Illinois considering a spot near the Indiana line, the as soon as ironclad grip on consumers has loosened.
Sen. Jon Ford, (R-Terre Haute) views this while the main reason an adjustment is going to possess become made.
‘We’ve lost the Ohio edge, we’ve lost the Michigan-Indiana edge, and now Illinois is aggressively coming he said after us.
Making More with Less
AB 1350’s main supply is eliminating the $3 per-person admissions tax imposed in the state’s riverboats and changing it having a supplemental income tax capped at 3.5 percent on a casino’s adjusted gross receipts. Officials say the tax is outdated and if somebody is remaining during the resort after which going into the casino, the resort is getting double taxed on the same individual.
Legislators mostly agreed upon that part, however the hold funding that is harmless has been contentious. Hold safe funding is the quantity of cash fond of communities that have actually establishments in their area.
Originally there was a call to lessen the $48 million amount doled out to metropolitan areas and counties, but it was put back in the Senate version and a fight has evolved on whether it should stay or go. It is yet to be observed which side shall win the debate.
Wynn Resorts Sues Elaine Wynn Over Secret Copied File Stash
Wynn Resorts is suing its co-founder that is former and, Elaine Wynn, for punitive damages on the grounds that she superstitiously permitted her lawyers to copy computer hard drives belonging to the company.
Elaine and Steve Wynn, pictured here in happier times, are engaged in a complete war that is blown of flowers over a 2010 shareholders agreement that bars Elaine from selling her almost 1 billion equity in Wynn Resorts. (Image: zimbio.com)
It’s the salvo that is latest in a long-running war of the roses between Wynn and her estranged spouse, Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn. Elaine is seeking to regain control of her 10 percent stake in the company she formed with her ex in 2000, currently worth almost $1 billion.
As part of the divorce that is final settlement 2010 the couple split their stakes in Wynn Resorts evenly, while Steve, as CEO, agreed to always reelect his ex-wife to the board of directors. In return Elaine Wynn agreed to a supply that she’dn’t offer her shares without the organization’s permission.
Relations Deteriorate
The settlement was initially amicable, however the battle kicked off in 2012 when Wynn Resorts sued its major shareholder, the Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada, and ousted him from the board over allegations that he bribed a Philippine video gaming regulators in order to secure a license for the project that eventually became the Okada Manila, which Wynn had not been involved in.
Okada coounter-sued, and sensing her moment, Elaine joined the lawsuit so that they can extricate by herself from the shareholders agreement that barred her from selling her stocks.
Wynn Resorts resolved she was at breach of fiduciary duties towards the company and ousted her from the board.
Elaine recently petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court for whistle-blower protection in connection to allegations of securities violations by Wynn Resorts, after being declined security by the Las Vegas trial judge presiding within the case.
Covert Operations
But in the filing that is latest, Wynn Resorts claims Elaine’s allegations depend on privileged information that her previous her lawyers secretly copied from personal company files in 2013. They also claim lawyers made a forensic image of her assistant’s computer.
‘ Whether Elaine and her agents covertly accessed even more information than they copied may never be known,’ the ongoing company said in the filing. ‘The computers were linked to Wynn Resorts’ corporate network and Elaine didn’t supervise her attorneys.’
Elaine, meanwhile, claims she was merely following the advice of her legal group, although she admitted she had maybe not told Wynn Resorts that the information had been accessed and copied.
‘we relied on their counsel to follow their directions,’ she said in during a hearing final week. ‘ And they desired to image my computer, and so I cooperated with that demand.’
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Defends Opulent Spending, But Not Everyone Is up to speed
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is defending its spending practices this week after the town’s Review-Journal (LVRJ) news site, the most news that is circulated in Nevada, published a report highlighting the us government agency’s extravagant budget and expenses.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Chairman Lawrence Weekly states his agency’s tax-funded investing is warranted in advertising the populous city, many expenditures look similar to lavish entertainment than genuine costs. (Image: Mark Damon/Las Las Vegas News Bureau)
The LVCVA is tasked with attracting visitors to your Mojave Desert by highlighting las vegas’s world-class entertainment, dining, shopping, and more. A subdivision of the State of Nevada, the authority comprises of 14 principal officers, with six users coming from the sector that is private.
Based on financial disclosures curated by the LVRJ, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spent nearly $700,000 on alcohol within the last 36 months, $85,000 on adult entertainment and showgirls, and thousands of dollars on concerts and shows. The news supply claims to own reviewed over 32,000 pages of receipts.
Board members of this LVCVA defended such lavish spending as the cost it takes to attract marquee conventions and activities.
Lawrence Weekly, who is a Clark County commissioner and chairs the LVCVA, explained of attempting to entice decision makers, ‘You’ve got to give something getting something.’
He later tweeted, ‘Vegas means business. LVCVA are doing just that . . . Performing to keep us in that #1 spot.’
LVCVA on the Defensive
Finding somebody completely unfamiliar with what vegas is a task that is nearly impossible. That is at the least what critics regarding the LVCVA argue.
Casino resorts also spend millions on marketing campaigns each year, and with Vegas’ well-known reputation, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative, truth be told that the city does not need much explanation.
The Review-Journal found that Las Vegas spends $3.39 per visitor on marketing, second to only St. Petersburg, Florida, which spends $3.89. St. Petersburg is no Las Vegas, however, as many tend clueless as to which coast of the Sunshine State the city also resides on ( oahu is the Gulf, FYI).
The authority says its ability to stay the country’s top trade and convention show destination warrants such wining and dining. According to Applied Analysis, a Nevada-based economic and video gaming research company, tourism produced almost $60 billion for the Vegas economy in 2016.
The LVCVA additionally points to its recent prize through the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The Chicago-headquartered organization reviews state and local government economic management agencies, and for the 33rd consecutive year, awarded the LVCVA with a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.
‘To continuously win these . . . is a significant accomplishment,’ LVCVA member Bill Noonan said last month.
Tax Dollars at Play
The authority is largely funded through the Clark County hotel occupancy taxation. Of the estimated $705 million the tax is anticipated to create in 2017, 33.2 per cent of each and every dollar will go into the coffers of the LVCVA. That trumps perhaps the Clark County School region (13.1 %) and Nevada public college investment (24.3 percent.)
Last November, the Nevada State Legislature approved a bill that increases the tax by 0.88 % to 12.88 percent. The increase will be properly used to deliver $750 million to help build the home that is future of Las Vegas Raiders NFL franchise.
While the majority of funds are used to market Vegas and cater to visitors that are potential LVCVA Chairman Weekly accepted $33,000 worth of meals and travel since 2014. Authority CEO Rossi Ralenkotter made $768,000 in salary, bonuses, and benefits in 2016, and Mayor that is former Oscar was paid $72,000 to appear at promotional events.
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