Today's (Mon Aug. 23) Wall St. Journal had a front page article on lack of
regulation in Indian Casinos and possible corruption. For example one
investigator reported possible evidence of embezzlement, kickbacks, and suspicious
money movements (including $90,000 in a shoebox taken from the casino), at
least according to the Wall St. Journal. It also said her bosses in California
basically told her to back off on investigations and delete references to
improprieties from her report.
As some of you may know, I feel that the lack of regulation of these casinos
definitely makes them suspect in several respects. Without regulation, can
one be certain that the casinos are not cheating players? Can one be certain
that the "mob" isn't involved? Can one be certain all taxes are being
properly paid, monies reported? Can one be certain that corruption won't come to
these casinos? -- the way that unregulated gambling in the U.S. in the past
caused corruption and mob influence -- which resulted in gambling being
prohibited in most states until recent changes. TIME magazine had an interesting
article on Indian Casinos awhile ago that also talked about problems with
tribal politics, definition of who is really part of a "tribe," and some Native
Americans who are not benefiting from casino gambling, while other individuals
may reap huge rewards.
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