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Seminole Tribe Given Warning

FLORIDA – As reported by the St, Petersburg Times: "The U.S. government has warned the Seminole Tribe of Florida that it will shut down its casinos unless the tribe stops using illegal gaming devices and ceases a free-wheeling spending program that pumped millions into luxury cars and gifts for council members' cronies.

"National Indian Gaming Commission chairman Philip N. Hogen issued the dire warning earlier this month in a private meeting with the Seminole Tribe's elected council members in Washington, D.C. Hogen is scheduled to resume talks about compliance with the Seminole governing body this morning at tribal headquarters in Hollywood, Fla.

"The council, facing the loss of its economic lifeblood - casinos bring in more than $300-million a year - appears eager to do what Hogen requires.

"…But those profits could disappear unless tribal officials do two things: First, they must update some electronic slot machines so that patrons are playing against other patrons, not the house, as federal rules require. Second, and this hurdle is more critical, the tribe must overhaul a discretionary spending plan that allocated $5-million to $10-million annually to each council member to spend as he wished.

"Spending excesses from those multimillion-dollar handouts made headlines in 2002 during a federal conspiracy, embezzlement and money laundering trial in Fort Lauderdale involving three former employees of the Seminole Tribe.

"…That kind of carte blanche spending violates federal rules on the use of gambling revenues, according to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act enacted in 1988…"

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