Boston Claims Wynn Resorts Knew of Criminal Ties To Everett Land

Posted on: July 14, 2015, 01:54h. 

Last updated on: July 14, 2015, 01:55h.

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Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

Wynn Resorts had knowledge that the plot of land it purchased for its $1.3 billion casino project in Everett, Massachusetts was part-owned by a convicted felon with alleged ties to the Mob, according to the City of Boston.

The city is suing the state Gaming Commission over its decision to award the east Massachusetts casino license to Wynn Resorts.

New documents filed by the city highlight recently discovered interviews between gaming officials and at least five people, which the city says suggest that Wynn representatives discussed alleged gangster Charles Lightbody’s concealed interest in the land prior to the deal.

It is against Massachusetts gaming law for a convicted felon to profit from a casino’s operations.

The documents were dismissed by the judge because they had been submitted too late and were subsequently released to the Associated Press by the City of Boston.

Previous Convictions

FBT Everett Realty, the company that sold Wynn the contaminated former chemical plant on the Mystic River waterfront across from Boston, attempted to conceal Lightbody’s role as a director prior to the Wynn sale.

Lightbody had served prison time for assault with a dangerous weapon and has a previous conviction for organizing an identity theft ring.

Before the sale went ahead, one partner in FBT Everett Realty confessed to falsifying documents to make it look as though Lightbody had left the company prior to Wynn’s offer to purchase the land.

Three members of FBT Everett Realty, along with Lightbody, were arrested on state fraud charges just two weeks after the Gaming Commission’s decision.

But the City of Boston believes that the recently discovered interviews show that Wynn representatives, the state Gaming Commission and Everett officials, including the mayor, knew what was going on.

The documents relate to a conversation between Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria and Stephen Tocco, a former state secretary of economic affairs who was working as a political consultant for Wynn.

Tocco told the Gaming Commission he had informed DeMaria that a reporter was making inquiries about the land.

“Mayor Knew of Lightbody’s past”

Wynn would not accept the deal, he reminded the mayor, if a convicted felon was involved. According to the documents, the mayor asked specifically if the reporter was talking about Lightbody.

“A fair and reasonable inference to be drawn from Tocco’s testimony is that Mayor DeMaria knew that Lightbody was an owner of the former Monsanto Chemical Site and a convicted felon, which he communicated directly to Tocco, a long-term, authorized representative of Wynn,” argues the city.

On Monday, however, Tocco publicly denied the city’s interpretation of the testimony.? “I never heard of Lightbody and I certainly never had any discussions with Wynn or anybody else about Lightbody,” he said. “I didn’t pursue it because I didn’t know who the names were, anyway. I wasn’t involved in the land stuff.”

Had Mohegan Sun won the license, Boston would have benefited to the tune of $18 million, as part of a “host community” compensation agreement with the operator. Last year the Gaming Commission denied Boston host community status in respect to the Wynn deal, incurring the wrath of Mayor Marty Walsh.