In the state of Indiana, the major gaming authority there the Indiana Gaming Commission decided to postpone Terre Haute casino licensing hearing. In other words, the plan to bring a casino resort worth $125 million to the city of Terre Haute had hit a snag. The gaming authority decided to take this measure so that its officials can properly investigate whether main executives for the planned facility’s operator have any kind of ties with illegal campaign contributions.
According to one report released by the WTWO-TV local broadcaster, local company Spectacle Entertainment was the only firm to have filed an official application for the mandatory license to operate the planned Terre Haute casino facility. The company had been also hoping that the Indiana Gaming Commission would approve its envisioned plans for the Rocksino via a hearing which was scheduled for the 7th of February.
Indiana Gaming Commission Rescheduling the Meeting
Nonetheless, the state’s main gaming regulatory body revealed several days ago that it will reschedule the planned meeting so that its officials can investigate property whether there are any connections between the Spectacle Entertainment company and an illegal scheme which was said to have helped to funnel over $15,000 illegally to the 2016 campaign by the state’s former Senate Senator Mr. Waltz who hoped to win his seat in the US House of Representatives.
The Indiana Gaming Commission has released one official statement regarding this matter. In this statement, the authority detailed that the planned meeting scheduled for the 7th of February has been postponed. It was also revealed that the Indiana Gaming Commission received information on the 23rd of January concerning the applicant mentioned above which requires careful investigation conducted by the regulatory body’s officials according to their responsibilities.
Spectacle Entertainment and Its CEO
As reported by the same local broadcast service WTWO-TV, Spectacle Entertainment’s Chief Executive Officer Rod Radcliff is known to have been involved in the 2016 campaign which saw Eric Holcomb being elected as the fifty-first Governor of Indiana. It was also reported that the executive was also joined in these lobbying efforts by the company’s Vice-president Mr. Keeler even though a subsequent investigation has concluded that neither men had done anything wrong.
The local broadcaster also revealed that the most recent allegations of impropriety originate from one federal case in the state of Virginia which concerns Strategic Campaign Group’s Vice-President Charles O’Neil who pled guilty to his charges that he had helped one Indianapolis-based gaming enterprise to illegally contribute a certain amount of funds to former Indiana State Senator Mr. Waltz.
The same report also reveals that Keeler and Radcliff had been major executives at the Centaur Gaming company before they re-branded the company to Spectacle Entertainment in 2018 shortly after the company sold its Hoosier Park Racing and Casino and Indiana Grand Racing and Casino facilities to Caesars Entertainment Corporation.
The Indianapolis-headquartered gaming operator then purchased Majestic Star Casino Hotel as well as Majestic Star Casino Hotel II after successfully lobbying several state legislators for changes made in the law which would allow the company to move its gaming operations onshore via a completely new facility which would be branded as the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana. These shaky business deals resulted in Terre Haute being granted mandatory permission to become home to a slots-friendly casino venue which Spectacle Gaming anticipated to be its Rocksino venue.
