Empire City Casino Must Pay $85,000 Penalty To Obtain Its Licence For Online Casino Gaming

MGM Resorts, which own Empire City Casino must pay a penalty of $85,000 to the state Gaming Board for hiring a former board’s employee within 6 months of his resignation from the board. 

MGM Resorts International is compelled to pay $85,000 fine before starting its online gaming site. Based in Pennsylvania, the company owes the fine to the Gaming Control Board of the state for hiring a former employee of the board before the completion of the waiting period as authorized by the committee. 

Pennsylvania’s Gaming Board conducted their monthly meeting on Wednesday. At this meeting, a consent agreement was announced. As per this agreement, MGM Resorts International must pay a fixed amount as a penalty for hiring an ex-employee of the Gaming Board before the completion of two years of the waiting period. 

There is a probability in August that the board will wave a green signal for MGM’s online casino gaming site. This meeting is specially scheduled for discussing the licence of MGM’s BetMGM website that is planning to offer table games, poker, and online slots. But before this, the company must pay the fine. 

The Gaming Board’s provision in the casino law reads that any organization should wait for at least two years before hiring a former employee of the state’s Gaming Board. This is applicable for employees who worked at influential ranks in the committee. 

However, MGM contradicted this rule by hiring a former employee of the board within 6 months of his resignation from the committee. The senior employee, who wasn’t identified in the consent agreement, began working for MGM’s Empire City Casino in July 2019, just after resigning from the board in January 2019. 

It is an iGaming subsidiary of Empire City Casino of MGM Resorts that is waiting for the licence approval for its mobile or online gaming operations in the state. The consent agreement also reads that the concerned ex-employee has even resigned from the position with Empire city since January 2020. 

Jim Davenport

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