Yesterday (June 27, 2018), the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved four Consent Agreements, one of which was with a casino operator and the remaining three with other firms that provide gambling services. This resulted in a total of $481,116 in fines. These Consent Agreements were negotiated and presented by the board’s Office of Enforcement Counsel before being approved by the PGCB during yesterday’s public meeting that was held in Harrisburg.
The next PGCB meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, July 18, 2018, in the board’s Public Hearing Room that is located on the second floor of Harrisburg’s Strawberry Square.
The Details
Two of the Consent Agreements originated from a single matter that involved a purchase agreement between two firms. As it turns out, the said purchase agreement was enacted and implemented without any notification being sent to the board and therefore the firms were conducting business with the Keystone State’s casinos without authorization from the board. The larger fine, $351,271.40, was levied against Nevada-based gaming manufacturer and distributor, American Gaming Systems (AGS, LLC) for failing to disclose their Intellectual Property Purchase Agreement with In Bet Gaming, LLC. In addition to this, AGS, LLC, went on to engage in business with the state’s casinos through In Bet Gaming, LLC and also received proceeds from In Bet Gaming without any form of authorization or licensure from the gaming control board.
New Jersey-based In Bet Gaming Inc., a Certified Gaming Related Service Provider to Pennsylvania casinos received a $55,744.60 fine for having participated in AGS, LLC’s circumvention of the state’s licensing requirements. This also resulted in AGS, LLC owning intellectual property rights to casino games operated in Pennsylvanian casinos without the necessary authorization.
Coming in third was Valley Forge Convention Centre Partners, LP, the operator of the Montgomery County-based Valley Forge Resort who received a $50,000 fine for dishing out excess amounts of free slot play. Apparently, this violated the operators approved complimentary matrix. As per the state’s regulations, each of the licensed casinos in Pennsylvania is required to include a matrix of employees in their internal controls. These employees are to be given the proper authorization to award complimentary services alongside the specific limits on the amounts that are to be authorized. The PGCB’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement reports that through an investigation it discovered that free slot play had been awarded in 2015 and 2016 either by employees that were not authorized to do so or, beyond the authorized limits by authorized employees. This lead to the total free slot play awards being higher than the approved level.
Lastly, Nevada-based slot machine provider, Ditronics Financial Services, LLC, was fined $24,1000 for late filings of the required Audited Annual Financial Statements for 2016 and 2017