Oh, the hell with it. I’m going to keep posting on the Middleborough casino as long as there’s news to report. And there is: The Cape Cod Times’ Stephanie Vosk tells us that yet another investor has run afoul of the law.
Vosk points to a 1997 story in the Detroit Free Press, which found that, 20 years earlier, casino developer Herb Strather paid a $500 fine and performed community service as punishment for offering a police officer a new pair of shoes in return for special consideration on a drunken-driving arrest. You can’t make this stuff up.
Yesterday, of course, we learned that investor Sol Kerzner was accused of bribing a South African government official in 1986 in connection with a casino deal there. Kerzner was not convicted, and the charge was later dropped.
Meanwhile, Peter Kenney keeps beavering away on Cape Cod Today as he attempts to track $675,000 in Wampanoag money used by disgraced former tribe leader Glenn Marshall to buy a horse stable in Mashpee.
Finally, I’ve got a commentary on all this in today’s Providence Journal.
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With all due respect to Kenney, (whose work I have already given props)he might want to bring a lawyer on board to help him. I have no dog in this hunt but a couple of quibbles: The fact that a law office is the address of a corporate entity is not necessarily shady. Might just be the place where you ensure legal docs get delivered in a time-sensitive way, particularly in seasonal resort towns. Lots of reasons why notices go to a lawyer, (e.g. A shopping center owned by a bunch of dentists, etc.) In fact, there may not be RFD postal service to the horse farm, for all we know. Important thing is whether the lawyer is acting ethically as a member of the bar.The fact that the LLC was set up to own the real estate is again not shady in and of itself. Lenders just want to know that they will be repayed. If value far exceeds the mortgage, who cares how old the borrower is? Just so bank is made whole in the case of a default by borrower, since loan is an asset of Fleet, a federally-insured institution. At least the loan was recorded with the Deed Registry for public scrutiny. Kenney didn’t say whether the loan was “recourse”, i.e. guaranteed by someone’s personal signature. In a “non-recourse” loan, the real estate is pretty much the whole underwriting process, since that is what you may have to go after.If Marshall REALLY wanted to screw people, he would have used the “Massachusetts Nominee Trust”, (a Byzantine instrument if ever there was one). Again, not to argue with Peter. His work has been so stellar, I just hate to see his credibility damaged by picayune missteps.
Dan, I know you’re trying to fight the “good fight”, but just who do you think exactly is involved in the gambling industry anyway?
Mike: That’s a great question for Adam Bond. I’m not sure why you’re asking me. I’m utterly unsurprised by all of these developments, and I expect we’re going to hear a lot more. That’s one of the reasons why I’m opposed to a casino, not just for Middleborough, but for any community.
Dan, I totally agree with your line of thought. However, the Indian Gaming legislation seems to completely overwhelm states’ rights due to issues going way back in our history (as an aside, I have a great-great-great grandmother, Sarah Strongbow, a full blooded Cherokee – figure that if these 529 plans don’t pan out, my kids might be checking a different box at registration time).