Cover Stories Spring 2004

Rhode Island: Bidder for Lincoln Park Withdraws Offer

Providence: The following is a synopsis of recent events involving Wembley-owned Lincoln [Greyhound] Park and video slot casino, including the corruption trial of former CEOs Daniel Bucci and Nigel Potter, the takeover bid for Wembley properties, kennel owner subsidies, and a proposed ballot measure for a tribal casino. [See the last three issues of GNN, available on-line, for background information. - Ed.]

• U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi June 22 refused to dismiss charges against Bucci and Potter. Both men were indicted Sept. 9, 2003 on charges that they conspired to pay a Rhode Island law firm up to $4.5 million in return for help in winning approval for additional video slots for the track and keeping a proposed Narragansett casino vote off the ballot. The trial has been scheduled for January 2005.
  
  
• BLB Investors, a consortium of casino and resort interests, withdrew its $500 million-plus offer to buy London-based Wembley July 5. Wembley also owns three dog tracks and one horse track in Colorado, as well as six dog tracks in the United Kingdom. BLB backed out of the deal because the "political environment" surrounding Lincoln Park "has become highly uncertain."
  
  
• The General Assembly in late June passed a $5.9 billion state budget bill for the 2005 fiscal year beginning July 1. Gov. Carcieri vetoed the bill, but the Senate, without debate, overrode his veto 24-6 July 30. The new budget eliminates the greyhound owners' share of video slot revenues, estimated to be $11 million this year.
  
  
• Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment and the Narragansett Indian Tribe won a key victory on July 30, when the House overrode Gov. Carcieri's July 1 veto of a bill authorizing a referendum on their proposed $600 million casino in West Warwick. Carcieri has questioned the constitutionality of the ballot question and has asked the state Supreme Court for an opinion. If the referendum goes before voters and passes, Harrah's will own the casino and pay the tribe $20 million or more per year.

Sources: The Providence Journal: Katherine Gregg, Scott Mayerowitz, Zachary R. Mider, Felice J. Fryer;
The London Times: Dominic Walsh