The Folly of it All!
Banana Republican
Carlos Gimenez, Getting Cash From Genting and Magic City Casino, Tests His Loyalty
By Francisco Alvarado
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez could soon be at odds with two major casino operators supporting his re-election run in 2012. That's because a pair of state bills that would pave the way for three destination mega-resorts with full-scale casinos benefits one company while freezing out the other firm.
Gimenez publicly supports Malaysian giant Genting's bid to bring a gambling resort downtown -- and he's taken thousands from the firm -- but the latest gambling bill in Tallahassee would help Genting at the expense of Magic City Casino, one of the mayor's long-time supporters.
Within days of beating former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina this past June 26, Gimenez was already twisting arms for campaign funds. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, the mayor raised half-a-million dollars for Common Sense Now, a political action committee Gimenez formed that conducts polls and runs ads on his behalf.
That included $10,000 apiece from Genting New York and West Flagler Associates. Genting New York is an affiliate of the Malaysian casino conglomerate that wants to build a multi-billion dollar resort with 8,400 slot machines and gaming tables on 13-plus acres of waterfront land that includes the existing site of the Miami Herald headquarters.
West Flagler is the holding company for Magic City Casino, the former dog track that currently operates slot machines and card games in the Flagami neighborhood of Miami.
Gimenez's backing of Genting will test his loyalty to the owners of Magic City Casino, Isadore Havenick and his mother Barbara, who two weeks ago co-chaired a fundraiser for Gimenez and who have shown an interest in expanding their gambling operation beyond Flagler Street.
That's because details emerged this week about Reps Erik Fresen and Ellyn Bogdanoff's bills to award exclusive gaming licenses at three South Florida locations. The bidders would have to pay $50 million for the right to compete for the licenses and would be judged on their ability to draw tourists from around the world.
The new casinos would pay 10 percent tax on net revenues -- significantly less than the 35 percent tax rate currently charged to pari-mutuels like Magic City Casino, which already cannot compete with the deep pockets of Genting, the largest casino operator in southeast Asia. Cushy deal!
Translation: If this bill passes, Magic City would have a hell of a tough time getting a license and an even tougher time surviving if it doesn't.
What's Carlos going to have to say about it? We'll soon find where his loyalties lie.
Showing posts with label Magic City Casino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Magic City Casino. Show all posts
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Florida: FBI, IRS investigate Rep. David Rivera for ties to secret casino contract
FBI, IRS investigate Rep. David Rivera for ties to secret casino contract
Federal investigators have opened a second criminal probe of U.S. Rep. David Rivera, examining undisclosed payments from a Miami gambling enterprise to a company tied to the Republican congressman, The Miami Herald has learned.
Agents with the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service have begun interviewing witnesses knowledgeable about a $1 million consulting contract between Flagler Dog Track — now known as Magic City Casino — and Millennium Marketing, a company co-owned by Rivera’s 70-year-old mother and her business partner, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
In the next few weeks, federal agents are scheduled to interview Lori Weems, a lobbyist and lawyer who drafted the consulting contract while representing the Magic City Casino, sources said. Earlier this year, FBI agents also interviewed Esther Nuhfer, a Miami lobbyist and political consultant with close ties to Rivera, sources said.
Members of the Havenick family, who own the Magic City Casino, have cooperated with investigators, who appear to be examining federal tax-evasion charges.
Both the FBI and the IRS declined to comment on the case. It's not so easy getting a comment out of Rivera, who is using a campaign email account to communicate with this disclaimer to our written questions:
"Please note, the statements below are attributable to the Rivera for Congress re-election campaign. If you are unable to accept these statements as such, then consider them unattributable and for background purposes only."
Q. We've been told that the IRS and the FBI have been interviewing witnesses as part of an investigation of your finances, with a focus on the contract with the Flagler Dog track. Has the FBI or IRS contacted you or requested an interview?
A: No. Any insinuation to the contrary is a continuation of the false, misleading and unattributed reporting that has characterized the Herald's coverage thus far.
Q:. Did you pay personal income taxes on any money received from the Flagler Dog Track/Magic City Casino?
A: As stated to you last year by the campaign, Congressman Rivera has never received income from Flagler Dog Track/Magic City Casino.
Q: Did you pay personal income taxes on any money received from Millennium Marketing?
A: As stated to you last year by the campaign, Congressman Rivera has never received income from Millennium Marketing.
Q: Did Millennium Marketing pay any taxes on money received from the Flagler Dog Track/Magic City Casino?
A: Please contact Millennium Marketing for any inquiries related to Millennium Marketing.
Q: We've been told that someone acting on behalf of Millennium Marketing contacted Magic City officials in the past few weeks and requested the remaining $500,000 success fee that had not yet been paid under the Millennium contract. Were you aware of this request? Did you make this request, or direct this request in any way? Can you explain why Millennium decided to ask for that money, and why that money had not been requested over the past 2 1/2 years?
A: Please contact Millennium Marketing and/or Magic City for any inquiries related to Millennium Marketing and/or Magic City.
Q: Have you hired a criminal defense attorney? If so, who is it?
A: No
Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2011/07/fbi-irs-investigate-rep-david-rivera-for-ties-to-secret-casino-contract-.html#ixzz1Spe3SLmJ
Federal investigators have opened a second criminal probe of U.S. Rep. David Rivera, examining undisclosed payments from a Miami gambling enterprise to a company tied to the Republican congressman, The Miami Herald has learned.
Agents with the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service have begun interviewing witnesses knowledgeable about a $1 million consulting contract between Flagler Dog Track — now known as Magic City Casino — and Millennium Marketing, a company co-owned by Rivera’s 70-year-old mother and her business partner, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
In the next few weeks, federal agents are scheduled to interview Lori Weems, a lobbyist and lawyer who drafted the consulting contract while representing the Magic City Casino, sources said. Earlier this year, FBI agents also interviewed Esther Nuhfer, a Miami lobbyist and political consultant with close ties to Rivera, sources said.
Members of the Havenick family, who own the Magic City Casino, have cooperated with investigators, who appear to be examining federal tax-evasion charges.
Both the FBI and the IRS declined to comment on the case. It's not so easy getting a comment out of Rivera, who is using a campaign email account to communicate with this disclaimer to our written questions:
"Please note, the statements below are attributable to the Rivera for Congress re-election campaign. If you are unable to accept these statements as such, then consider them unattributable and for background purposes only."
Q. We've been told that the IRS and the FBI have been interviewing witnesses as part of an investigation of your finances, with a focus on the contract with the Flagler Dog track. Has the FBI or IRS contacted you or requested an interview?
A: No. Any insinuation to the contrary is a continuation of the false, misleading and unattributed reporting that has characterized the Herald's coverage thus far.
Q:. Did you pay personal income taxes on any money received from the Flagler Dog Track/Magic City Casino?
A: As stated to you last year by the campaign, Congressman Rivera has never received income from Flagler Dog Track/Magic City Casino.
Q: Did you pay personal income taxes on any money received from Millennium Marketing?
A: As stated to you last year by the campaign, Congressman Rivera has never received income from Millennium Marketing.
Q: Did Millennium Marketing pay any taxes on money received from the Flagler Dog Track/Magic City Casino?
A: Please contact Millennium Marketing for any inquiries related to Millennium Marketing.
Q: We've been told that someone acting on behalf of Millennium Marketing contacted Magic City officials in the past few weeks and requested the remaining $500,000 success fee that had not yet been paid under the Millennium contract. Were you aware of this request? Did you make this request, or direct this request in any way? Can you explain why Millennium decided to ask for that money, and why that money had not been requested over the past 2 1/2 years?
A: Please contact Millennium Marketing and/or Magic City for any inquiries related to Millennium Marketing and/or Magic City.
Q: Have you hired a criminal defense attorney? If so, who is it?
A: No
Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2011/07/fbi-irs-investigate-rep-david-rivera-for-ties-to-secret-casino-contract-.html#ixzz1Spe3SLmJ
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Florida: Crime and Corruption
Congressman-elect being investigated
MIAMI (AP) _ The Miami-Dade state attorney's office is investigating more than $500,000 in secret payments from the owners of the Flagler Dog Track to a company tied to Congressman-elect David Rivera, The Miami Herald has learned.
Most of the money was paid in early 2008, weeks after Rivera -- then a member of the Florida House of Representatives, helped run a political campaign backed by the dog track to win voter approval for Las Vegas-style slot machines at parimutuel venues in Miami-Dade County.
The dog track, now called the Magic City Casino, made three payments totaling $510,000 to Millennium Marketing, a company currently co-managed by Rivera's 70-year-old mother. Investigators are still trying to determine if Rivera himself received any of the money, or if anything about the transaction was illegal, according to sources close to the inquiry.
Rivera, a Miami Republican elected to Congress on Nov. 2, has previously denied working for the dog track, though he played a public role in supporting the pro-slots referendum campaign. Rivera never reported receiving any money from Flagler during his eight-year tenure in the Legislature.
Rivera, who is scheduled to be sworn in as a member of Congress on Jan. 5, declined to be interviewed for this article, but he released a statement saying that he never received any money from the dog track or from Millennium.
In the statement, Rivera said he was ``designated by Millennium'' to work on the slots campaign after the firm was hired by Flagler, and added he has not been contacted by investigators. At the time the contract was signed, Millennium's sole corporate officer was Rivera's godmother, Ileana Medina.
But Roberto Martinez, an attorney for the dog track, said it was Rivera who first approached the track owners in 2006 asking to manage the slots campaign, and it was Rivera who suggested that the contract go through Millennium, rather than to Rivera directly. Flagler's contract with Millennium was signed by both Rivera and Medina.
Flagler's owners ``wanted to make sure they retained David's personal services,'' Martinez said. Flagler's owners never dealt with Medina or Rivera's mother, Daisy Magarino, who was named a corporate officer of Millennium days after the Flagler contract expired.
In a later statement to The Herald, Rivera confirmed that he suggested the contract with Millennium after Flagler's owners ``expressed interest'' in pursuing the referendum.
In October, while campaigning for Congress, Rivera told The Herald he only ``helped'' with the slots vote, and denied having a management role in the parimutuel campaign or receiving any payment.
But under the October 2006 agreement with Flagler, Rivera was described as the ``strategic director'' of the pro-slots campaign, and its ``Top Leader of Chain of Command of All Campaign Consultants and Campaign Activities,'' according to the contract, which was reviewed by The Miami Herald.
Martinez said Flagler did nothing wrong, and the company's owners are cooperating with the investigation.
Rivera ``was very good at what he did, at directing the political campaign. He worked very hard,'' Martinez said. ``Our clients haven't done anything wrong. They have nothing to hide.''
But in an interview with The Herald earlier this year, a Flagler official denied any contract with Rivera. Flagler's vice president, Isadore Havenick, told the newspaper: ``He gave us advice, but he was never hired by us.''
Martinez said Havenick's statement is not inconsistent, because the payments from the company went to Millennium, not to Rivera directly. ``We don't know where the money went,'' Martinez said.
The payments from the track to Millennium were never publicly disclosed. Millennium was paid directly by Flagler, not through a political action committee Flagler established with two other Miami-Dade parimutuels to finance the campaign. The committee's expenses, which totaled more than $6.7 million, were disclosed under campaign finance laws.
The track first paid $50,000 to Millennium on Nov. 1, 2006, when the contract began. Millenium received another $210,000 on Feb. 26, 2008, and $250,000 on March 31, 2008.
According to records reviewed by The Herald, the track also agreed to pay Millennium another $500,000 in monthly installments of $20,000 -- the remainder of a ``success fee'' owed to Millennium after the referendum passed in the Jan. 29, 2008, vote. But neither Rivera nor Millennium ever collected on it.
Rivera did not report receiving any income from Flagler Dog Track or Millennium Marketing between 2006 and 2008 in financial disclosure forms filed with the state Ethics Commission.
In the forms, Rivera first reported that he worked during those years as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Herald reported in October that USAID had no record that Rivera worked for the agency; Rivera then amended his disclosure forms, omitting any reference to USAID _ but without listing any other source of income except his $30,000 annual salary as a state lawmaker.
Rivera did report working as a consultant through Millennium for other clients from 2002 to 2005. At the time, however, Millennium was not an active company, state records show.
Magarino, Rivera's mother, first founded a company called Millennium Marketing Strategies in 2000, but it was dissolved a year later. In 2006, a new Millennium was founded by Medina, a longtime business partner of Magarino's, records show.
Magarino reappeared as a Millennium officer in April 2008, four days after the final payment from Flagler. Rivera himself has never been an officer of the company.
Medina and Margarino could not be reached for comment.
On Sept. 27, 2006 -- two days after Millennium was re-formed, Rivera paid $15,000 to the company from his legislative campaign account for ``campaign consulting,'' records show. After winning reelection, Rivera paid another $15,000 in campaign funds to Millennium for organizing a ``thank you campaign,'' records show.
Under the contract with Flagler, Rivera promised to spend 75 percent of his time managing the campaign to win voter approval for slot machines, a proposal that Miami-Dade voters had defeated in 2005.
At the time, slot machines were a politically delicate issue within the Florida GOP. Then-House speaker Marco Rubio, one of Rivera's closest allies, was publicly opposed to slots, as was outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush.
Under the Flagler contract, Rivera's duties included gaining support of city leaders and unions, and the ``identification and neutralization of opposition,'' including animal rights groups, competing gambling operations, and the ``Hispanic community,'' the contract said.
In April 2007, Flagler teamed with the owners of Calder Race Course and Miami Jai-Alai to form a political action committee called Yes For A Greater Miami-Dade.
The parimutuels pumped more than $6.7 million into the committee to pay for political consultants, advertising, phone banks and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Among those hired by the PAC: Esther Nuhfer, a lobbyist with strong ties to Rivera, and Al Lorenzo, a former Rivera campaign aide.
On Feb. 6, 2008 _ only eight days after Rivera successfully led the campaign to bring slot machines to Miami-Dade _ Rivera filed a bill in Tallahassee that would have nullified the referendum results, disallowing slot machines in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Millennium received the bulk of its payments, $460,000, in the weeks after Rivera proposed this bill, which later died.
Asked about the bill at the time, Rivera told The Herald that he wanted to get rid of slots and the Lottery, and put both issues to a statewide vote.
Martinez, the lawyer for the track, said Rivera never discussed these bills or any other legislation with the track's owners. Rivera was hired only to manage the referendum campaign, he said.
MIAMI (AP) _ The Miami-Dade state attorney's office is investigating more than $500,000 in secret payments from the owners of the Flagler Dog Track to a company tied to Congressman-elect David Rivera, The Miami Herald has learned.
Most of the money was paid in early 2008, weeks after Rivera -- then a member of the Florida House of Representatives, helped run a political campaign backed by the dog track to win voter approval for Las Vegas-style slot machines at parimutuel venues in Miami-Dade County.
The dog track, now called the Magic City Casino, made three payments totaling $510,000 to Millennium Marketing, a company currently co-managed by Rivera's 70-year-old mother. Investigators are still trying to determine if Rivera himself received any of the money, or if anything about the transaction was illegal, according to sources close to the inquiry.
Rivera, a Miami Republican elected to Congress on Nov. 2, has previously denied working for the dog track, though he played a public role in supporting the pro-slots referendum campaign. Rivera never reported receiving any money from Flagler during his eight-year tenure in the Legislature.
Rivera, who is scheduled to be sworn in as a member of Congress on Jan. 5, declined to be interviewed for this article, but he released a statement saying that he never received any money from the dog track or from Millennium.
In the statement, Rivera said he was ``designated by Millennium'' to work on the slots campaign after the firm was hired by Flagler, and added he has not been contacted by investigators. At the time the contract was signed, Millennium's sole corporate officer was Rivera's godmother, Ileana Medina.
But Roberto Martinez, an attorney for the dog track, said it was Rivera who first approached the track owners in 2006 asking to manage the slots campaign, and it was Rivera who suggested that the contract go through Millennium, rather than to Rivera directly. Flagler's contract with Millennium was signed by both Rivera and Medina.
Flagler's owners ``wanted to make sure they retained David's personal services,'' Martinez said. Flagler's owners never dealt with Medina or Rivera's mother, Daisy Magarino, who was named a corporate officer of Millennium days after the Flagler contract expired.
In a later statement to The Herald, Rivera confirmed that he suggested the contract with Millennium after Flagler's owners ``expressed interest'' in pursuing the referendum.
In October, while campaigning for Congress, Rivera told The Herald he only ``helped'' with the slots vote, and denied having a management role in the parimutuel campaign or receiving any payment.
But under the October 2006 agreement with Flagler, Rivera was described as the ``strategic director'' of the pro-slots campaign, and its ``Top Leader of Chain of Command of All Campaign Consultants and Campaign Activities,'' according to the contract, which was reviewed by The Miami Herald.
Martinez said Flagler did nothing wrong, and the company's owners are cooperating with the investigation.
Rivera ``was very good at what he did, at directing the political campaign. He worked very hard,'' Martinez said. ``Our clients haven't done anything wrong. They have nothing to hide.''
But in an interview with The Herald earlier this year, a Flagler official denied any contract with Rivera. Flagler's vice president, Isadore Havenick, told the newspaper: ``He gave us advice, but he was never hired by us.''
Martinez said Havenick's statement is not inconsistent, because the payments from the company went to Millennium, not to Rivera directly. ``We don't know where the money went,'' Martinez said.
The payments from the track to Millennium were never publicly disclosed. Millennium was paid directly by Flagler, not through a political action committee Flagler established with two other Miami-Dade parimutuels to finance the campaign. The committee's expenses, which totaled more than $6.7 million, were disclosed under campaign finance laws.
The track first paid $50,000 to Millennium on Nov. 1, 2006, when the contract began. Millenium received another $210,000 on Feb. 26, 2008, and $250,000 on March 31, 2008.
According to records reviewed by The Herald, the track also agreed to pay Millennium another $500,000 in monthly installments of $20,000 -- the remainder of a ``success fee'' owed to Millennium after the referendum passed in the Jan. 29, 2008, vote. But neither Rivera nor Millennium ever collected on it.
Rivera did not report receiving any income from Flagler Dog Track or Millennium Marketing between 2006 and 2008 in financial disclosure forms filed with the state Ethics Commission.
In the forms, Rivera first reported that he worked during those years as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Herald reported in October that USAID had no record that Rivera worked for the agency; Rivera then amended his disclosure forms, omitting any reference to USAID _ but without listing any other source of income except his $30,000 annual salary as a state lawmaker.
Rivera did report working as a consultant through Millennium for other clients from 2002 to 2005. At the time, however, Millennium was not an active company, state records show.
Magarino, Rivera's mother, first founded a company called Millennium Marketing Strategies in 2000, but it was dissolved a year later. In 2006, a new Millennium was founded by Medina, a longtime business partner of Magarino's, records show.
Magarino reappeared as a Millennium officer in April 2008, four days after the final payment from Flagler. Rivera himself has never been an officer of the company.
Medina and Margarino could not be reached for comment.
On Sept. 27, 2006 -- two days after Millennium was re-formed, Rivera paid $15,000 to the company from his legislative campaign account for ``campaign consulting,'' records show. After winning reelection, Rivera paid another $15,000 in campaign funds to Millennium for organizing a ``thank you campaign,'' records show.
Under the contract with Flagler, Rivera promised to spend 75 percent of his time managing the campaign to win voter approval for slot machines, a proposal that Miami-Dade voters had defeated in 2005.
At the time, slot machines were a politically delicate issue within the Florida GOP. Then-House speaker Marco Rubio, one of Rivera's closest allies, was publicly opposed to slots, as was outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush.
Under the Flagler contract, Rivera's duties included gaining support of city leaders and unions, and the ``identification and neutralization of opposition,'' including animal rights groups, competing gambling operations, and the ``Hispanic community,'' the contract said.
In April 2007, Flagler teamed with the owners of Calder Race Course and Miami Jai-Alai to form a political action committee called Yes For A Greater Miami-Dade.
The parimutuels pumped more than $6.7 million into the committee to pay for political consultants, advertising, phone banks and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Among those hired by the PAC: Esther Nuhfer, a lobbyist with strong ties to Rivera, and Al Lorenzo, a former Rivera campaign aide.
On Feb. 6, 2008 _ only eight days after Rivera successfully led the campaign to bring slot machines to Miami-Dade _ Rivera filed a bill in Tallahassee that would have nullified the referendum results, disallowing slot machines in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Millennium received the bulk of its payments, $460,000, in the weeks after Rivera proposed this bill, which later died.
Asked about the bill at the time, Rivera told The Herald that he wanted to get rid of slots and the Lottery, and put both issues to a statewide vote.
Martinez, the lawyer for the track, said Rivera never discussed these bills or any other legislation with the track's owners. Rivera was hired only to manage the referendum campaign, he said.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Rep.-elect Rivera being investigated for $500K in secret payments
Rep.-elect Rivera being investigated for $500K in secret payments
Rep.-elect David Rivera, R-Miami, is under investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office for more than $500,000 in secret payments from the owners of the Flagler Dog Track to a company tied to him, reports The Miami Herald:
Most of the money was paid in early 2008, weeks after Rivera — then a member of the Florida House of Representatives — helped run a political campaign backed by the dog track to win voter approval for Las Vegas-style slot machines at parimutuel venues in Miami-Dade County.
The dog track — now called the Magic City Casino — made three payments totaling $510,000 to Millennium Marketing, a company currently co-managed by Rivera’s 70-year-old mother.
Rivera handily won the 25th district race in November vacated by Mario Diaz-Balart, who won in the 21st district. But he falsified claims on his state financial disclosure forms that he had worked as a contractor for USAID. He had to amend the forms to reflect that he had not, and questions arose over other sources of income beyond his $30,000/year salary as a state representative. He also faced allegations that he had run a truck containing his opponent’s flyers off the Palmetto Expressway in a 2002 campaign.
Rep.-elect David Rivera, R-Miami, is under investigation by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office for more than $500,000 in secret payments from the owners of the Flagler Dog Track to a company tied to him, reports The Miami Herald:
Most of the money was paid in early 2008, weeks after Rivera — then a member of the Florida House of Representatives — helped run a political campaign backed by the dog track to win voter approval for Las Vegas-style slot machines at parimutuel venues in Miami-Dade County.
The dog track — now called the Magic City Casino — made three payments totaling $510,000 to Millennium Marketing, a company currently co-managed by Rivera’s 70-year-old mother.
Rivera handily won the 25th district race in November vacated by Mario Diaz-Balart, who won in the 21st district. But he falsified claims on his state financial disclosure forms that he had worked as a contractor for USAID. He had to amend the forms to reflect that he had not, and questions arose over other sources of income beyond his $30,000/year salary as a state representative. He also faced allegations that he had run a truck containing his opponent’s flyers off the Palmetto Expressway in a 2002 campaign.
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