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Illinois Gaming Board Hit With New Subpoena

"The subpoena dated March 12 also demands cellular and office telephone records for the Gaming Board's new top administrator, Philip C. Parenti, and the board's chief legal counsel, Mark Ostrowski, sources said. The telephone records sought are from Parenti's first day on the job, Nov. 16, to the present.

"…While a subpoena in January had been characterized by Parenti as a narrow effort to collect information on one casino shareholder with alleged mob ties, the new subpoena casts a wider net.

"Federal investigators ordered the board to turn over `any and all' internal memos since Parenti took over that reflect contacts between Gaming Board personnel and any representatives of Emerald, Las Vegas-based MGM-Mirage and Rosemont.

"…Last Friday--10 days after the subpoena was issued--the Gaming Board announced it had rejected MGM-Mirage's offer to buy the Emerald. The board is expected to explain its decision at a meeting Wednesday.

"But the federal investigation may put a chill on any new ideas to reach a settlement on the Emerald license, a board member said.

"`It slows things down because you don't anticipate what they're looking for,' said Tobias Barry. `We don't have the faintest idea where they're going. So out of caution you play it safe, that's my thought.'

"Parenti has been a major booster of MGM's offer that would settle the stalemate over the stalled casino, sending a $160 million payment to the state and $455 million to Emerald's owners.

"The proposal has been controversial because of the millions that would go to a group that allegedly lied to casino regulators and sold shares to two people with alleged mob connections…"

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