A record $200,000 fine for sloppy accounting practices was levied Thursday against the owners of the Mardi Gras Casino in Black Hawk, putting state casinos’ total penalty at nearly $2 million since 1993.
Colorado’s casinos have been hit with more than 50 fines totaling $1.9 million in less than 13 years. Infractions have included failure to properly document revenues and using a deck with missing cards for 12 hours on a blackjack table, according to Colorado Division of Gaming documents.
Nearly half the fines imposed against the state’s casinos are for poor accounting procedures. The Division of Gaming requires casinos to provide documents to support their reported revenue.
“The financial statements help both the casinos and the division detect possible theft and ensure that casinos are paying taxes properly,” said Don Burmania, a spokesman for the gaming division. “Without the documents, we can’t have a level of confidence that the casinos are accurately reporting their revenues.”
Colorado taxes casinos on a graduated scale, which means a casino with higher revenue pays a higher tax rate.
In fiscal 2005, state and local agencies collected nearly $93 million in taxes from casinos, with the state’s general fund receiving $40 million.
A review of Division of Gaming disciplinary actions show that:
Twenty-five of the 54 fines imposed against casinos were for accounting violations, such as failing to maintain accurate statistical reports on revenue.
Fourteen casinos have been hit with multiple fines.
Twenty-seven of the 39 casinos that have been fined later shut down or were sold.
Two casinos were fined because blackjack dealers revealed their hole, or hidden, card to gamblers.
Gaming manufacturer Aristocrat was fined $500,000 in 1997 for lying about the value of its devices to avoid paying higher taxes.
The latest fines were handed down Thursday at a gaming-control commission meeting. Las Vegas-based Golden Gaming – which owns and operates Black Hawk’s Mardi Gras, Golden Gates and Golden Gulch casinos – received fines for all three casinos for poor record-keeping from January to June. The company acquired the casinos in January.
Golden Gates was fined $50,000, and Golden Gulch was fined $20,000. The $200,000 fine against the Mardi Gras is the largest ever against a Colorado casino.
Assistant Attorney General Ceri Williams said the Mardi Gras fine was so large because the casino is the state’s seventh- largest, with about 700 slot machines, and because the violations were extensive.
Georgine Zalesky, chief auditor for the gaming division, said the fine should cover any potential shortfall in revenue reporting by the casino. The division is considering whether to do a full audit of the Golden Gaming properties.
Golden Gaming is headed by Blake Sartini, who has had problems with regulators in the past.
Before starting Golden Gaming in 2001, Sartini was chief operating officer of Station Casinos in Missouri. In 2000, Station paid $1 million to the Missouri Gaming Commission to settle bribery allegations without admitting any wrongdoing. Station also surrendered its gaming licenses.
Golden Gaming declined to comment.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
