"The claim that Boston Harbor had a 'Hidden Felon' in a land deal has been dismissed."
A prior owner of the site now known as Encore Boston Harbor could not persuade the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that he was owed an additional $19 million following the sale of the land.
Anthony Gattineri was an associate in FBT Everett Realty, which acquired a defunct chemical plant on the Mystic River in 2009 for $8 million, where the casino is located today.
In 2011, Massachusetts citizens authorized casino gambling. FBT's fortunes changed when Wynn Resorts expressed interest in acquiring the land. Gattineri contends that Wynn Resorts entered into a verbal agreement with FBT in 2012, pledging to pay $75 million for the land if they won the sole casino license bid.
A potential snag arose due to FBT's director, Charles Lightbody, who had a criminal record and Mafia connections. Massachusetts law prohibits convicted felons from profiting from casino operations.
Investigation Raises Suspicions
As the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) assessed Wynn Resorts, they discovered evidence of Lightbody's criminal history. They then suspected that FBT was trying to conceal his involvement in the company.
The MGC then reduced the amount Wynn could pay for the land to $35 million, deeming it the property's value if not intended for a casino.
FBT asserted that Lightbody had divested himself of his stake in the company in 2011, selling his shares to Gattineri a year before Wynn's proposal. However, this was doubtful since the linked documents were backdated.
In 2015, two weeks after the MGC granted the casino license to Wynn, Gattineri, Lightbody, and another director, Dustin DeNunzio, were indicted on federal fraud charges. They were acquitted in 2016, and it was discovered that there was no Massachusetts law prohibiting a convicted felon from profiting from selling assets to a casino corporation; only from casino operations.
Unfortunately, the interpretation of the "convicted felons" law was incorrect not only by the MGC and prosecution but also by the defendants.
'Handshake' Agreement Invalid
Gattineri argued that the MGC's misinterpretation of the regulations cost him $12 million - his 49% share of the additional $40 million FBT would have received under the $75 million agreement. However, the court ruled on Friday that a private verbal agreement was untouchable, as it was never reported to the MGC and its specifics with Wynn.
[The funds were] intended to be paid to Gattineri, the individual who had acquired further interest in FBT from Lightbody, raising concerns that additional undisclosed financial gains might have been directed to him. Such arrangement would be likely to erode public confidence in the licensing process, the court wrote.
The court concluded that enforcing a secret contract contrary to the publicly agreed terms would breach public policy.
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Source: www.casino.org
