New York Attorney General opens investigation on casino bidding process; Straub (finally) buys Revel at lower price

New York governor Andrew Cuomo is being investigated over his administration’s handling of the casino selection process that awarded to licenses to bidders planning to develop casinos in the Catskills, Schenectady and the Finger Lakes region.

According to the New York Daily News, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is spearheading the investigation, which was initiated to “make sure that the process was fair and nothing illegal had occurred.” Granted, Schneiderman is within his rights to launch such a proceeding if he figured that it needed attention. But it’s also worth pointing out that when interviewed by investigators from Schneiderman’s office, even the losing bidders believed that the whole casino selection process was on the up-and-up.

Tioga Downs racetrack owner Jeff Gural, who unsuccessfully made a bid for one of the casino licenses told the Daily News that he met with investigators “at their request.”

“They said they were going to meet with all the bidders to make sure that the process was fair and that nothing illegal had occurred,” Gural added. “I told them I thought nothing illegal had occurred.

The state Gaming Commission, which managed the casino selections, responded to Schneiderman’s move to launch an investigation by defending the casino bidding process the state went through throughout the whole process. “The casino-siting process strictly followed the provisions of the Upstate New York Gaming Economic Development Act, which called for unprecedented transparency,” Gaming Commission spokesman Lee Park said, who also added that the commission has yet to be contacted by anybody from Schneiderman’s office.

Over in Atlantic City, it appears that the drawn-out saga involving the sale of Revel Casino Hotel appears to be coming to a long overdue conclusion after Florida developer Glenn Straub has agreed to and signed a deal to purchase the closed-down casino for $82 million, lower than the $95.4 million price tag that forced Straub to back out of the deal last week.

But bankruptcy Court Judge Gloria Burns never entered a final order terminating the sale, allowing representatives from both sides to continue with a final attempt at negotiating a deal, and against seemingly all odds, a deal was eventually struck in the 11th hour, paving the way for the transaction to finally happen.