Michigan Gaming Control Board’s Double Standard is Dangerous Departure from Past Licensing Practice

DETROIT — The following statement is from Lana Causley, vice chair of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Board of Directors. She is commenting on the Michigan Gaming Control Board’s decision to grant gaming licenses to a group of private hedge funds and investors after an abbreviated background review. The group is aiming to take ownership of Greektown Casino.

"In a significant and dangerous departure from past practice, the Michigan Gaming Control Board has chosen to turn a blind eye to its own rules and abandon how it has traditionally granted regulatory clearance for people who seek an ownership stake in a Detroit casino. By approving a transfer of ownership to people who have not yet passed the background checks the MGCB has demanded and performed of all previous owners, the MGCB has set a dangerous precedent and potentially harmed the integrity of commercial gaming in Michigan.

“The MGCB also has now used a double standard to license Detroit casino owners.

While the MGCB conducted throughout background checks on members of the Sault Tribe, who faced up to two years of investigation before receiving ownership clearance, the MGCB now appears willing to approve ownership positions in a matter of five months for out-of-state bankers who have exceptionally complicated and extensive business dealings world-wide. 

“Today’s decision unjustly applies a double standard that benefits private hedge funds and out-of-state investors, and compromises the MGCB’s own mission statement to ‘protect the interests of the citizens of the State of Michigan.’

“We live in the age of Enron scandals, Bernie Madoff and GM bankruptcies.  The notion that a regulatory body would fail to apply the same strict standards is incomprehensible – and it does not seem to us that a sufficiently thorough review could not have been completed in a few short months.”