Nevada lawsuits' impact may ripple through gaming

The controversy outlined below bears watching, yet it is interesting to note that this partnership owns 6 'casinos' and

employ about 5,000 workers

Remember how Massachusetts Gambling Proponents proclaim 20,000 jobs will be created?

Whittemore, Seeno lawsuits' impact may ripple through Nevada gaming, politics
Written by Martha Bellisle

Bay Area builders Tom Seeno and Albert Seeno Jr. are partners with Bill Paganetti in the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino and five other Nevada casinos.

Wit and work made lobbyist, Harvey Whittemore, 'an institution'

Some might say it’s just a legal battle between rich, powerful men.

But the court fight ensuing between one of Nevada’s most high-profile lobbyists, Harvey Whittemore, and the owners of the Bay Area’s largest home-building company, Tom Seeno and Albert Seeno Jr., could threaten the network of business, philanthropy and influence that both have worked their entire lives to create.

Competing lawsuits between Whittemore and the Seenos make accusations that could ultimately land someone in prison. They include claims of embezzlement, racketeering and threats of murder and physical violence. If any of the claims prove true, they also could result in the loss of several valuable and coveted licenses — including the gaming license for the casinos run by the Peppermill. The Seenos are minority partners in the gaming in the gaming empire and are listed on the gaming license.

The Seenos claim Whittemore stole funds from their shared business, the Wingfield Nevada Group. If that claim is true, it could cost Whittemore his license to practice law and curtail his ability to raise funds for philanthropy and political candidates — something he is known for throughout the state, giving big contributions to some of the state’s most politically connected candidates.

Sam McMullen, a Las Vegas lawyer and lobbyist who has known Whittemore for decades, said Whittemore has always been willing to step up and organize political fundraisers. And he has done it across party lines, he said.

“As long as I’ve known him, Harvey has been a force in Nevada politics,” McMullen said. “It will be a loss if he was no longer active. He has done a great deal for Nevada.”

For example, since 2008, he had donated $51,000 to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., but he’s also donated $27,600 to U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican from Carson City.

Whittemore and his wife, Annette, are equally as well-known in the state for their philanthropy. The couple started the Whittermore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno after their daughter was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. They host an annual gala to raise money to support the institute’s research.

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They’ve also been longtime, generous supporters of the University of Nevada, Reno, contributing to the university’s athletic programs. They have supported the UNR Foundation and were major contributors to the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, said John Carothers, vice president for development at the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation.

“It’s sad, what’s happening,” Carothers said.

Seeno lawyer Kent Robison said they have been in contact with federal officials and the Reno and Sparks police departments. He would not discuss the details of those talks.

On Thursday, FBI agents served subpoenas to Whittemore’s businesses and associates at sites throughout Nevada. They stem from allegations that Whittemore used employees to funnel campaign contributions to candidates. And on Friday, Reid and U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley said they were giving back or donating to charities thousands of dollars in contributions that the Whittemore family had given to their campaigns.

Phil Pattee, assistant bar counsel for the Nevada State Bar Association, said “the matter is under investigation,” but declined to talk further about the claims made against Whittemore.

Whittemore’s lawsuit against the Seenos claims that they used threats of violence and death and hired burly thugs to collect his assets, including jewelry, homes and vehicles.

Whittemore filed a complaint with the Reno Police Department in March 2011, saying he was told by a third party that someone in the Seeno family planned to harm him physically, according to Reno police Lt. Mohammad Rafaqat. But Whittemore said he did not want the police to conduct a criminal investigation, Rafaqat said.

Whittemore told the police that he only wanted to document the alleged threats, Rafaqat said.

Bill Paganetti, the majority stockholder at the Peppermill, is a partner with the Seenos and Nat Carasali in the Peppermill and five other casinos in Nevada. Paganetti said he believes Whittemore’s claims were an effort to raise questions whether they are “suitable” to hold a Nevada gaming license.

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“It is so transparent what he is trying to do that a blind man with a stick could see it,” Paganetti said. “He doesn’t care about the collateral damage he is causing.”

Gaming licensees can lose their licenses if they are charged with crimes, according to Mark Lipparelli, chairman of the Gaming Control Board.

The casinos licensed under the Seenos, Paganetti and Carasali employ about 5,000 workers. Paganetti is the majority stockholder in the Peppermill, and the Seenos are minority stockholders.

Lipparelli said he could not comment on the Whittemore and Seeno cases, but said “we are always monitoring the activities of licensees.”

Under Nevada law, a person seeking a gaming license must first undergo a background check to ensure that their record is clean, but they also must maintain a clean criminal record to retain that license, Lipparelli said.

“To obtain the license, an applicant must look good,” Lipparelli said. “But if they do a dastardly deed after they secured the license, we would file a complaint and we could take their license away. We could call them in and say, ‘You did this, and we as a board do not believe you are suitable anymore.’”

A licensee always has the obligation to maintain their suitability, he said.

If a gaming license is owned by a partnership and only one partner committed a crime, that person would have to be pushed out of the group, Lipparelli said. But if the Gaming Control Board finds that all of the partners were involved in illegal deeds, the license itself would be pulled.

The Seenos have not been accused of any crimes by federal or state officials.