There’s no better way of convincing people you’ve got something to hide than acting like you’re hiding something. Meet Anthony Gattineri of FBT Everett Realty, who could deal a fatal blow to Steve Wynn‘s casino plans in Everett. Gattineri refuses to pledge that criminals won’t benefit from his sale of the land on which Wynn Boston would arise. Without that pledge, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission won’t approve the Wynn project. Gattineri has also lawyered up and refuses to testify before the MGC. Way to look like a sleazy operator, dude! 
Gattineri’s omerta behavior is fueling suspicion that convicted felon Charles Lightbody is still one of the underlying landowners and would benefit from the sale — a big no-no with the MGC. (The partners have already been caught backdating documents to conceal Lightbody’s co-ownership.) Lightbody has also been taped saying he had a nearby strip club “locked up tight as a drum.” Gattineri also owes Lightbody $1 million that the latter could roll into an equity position in the land deal. It would be a thousand pities if Wynn’s project — which itself has been deemed free of suspicion — were thwarted because he tried to buy land from scumbags like Lightbody and Gattineri.
Speaking of disclosure, Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy‘s fan dance about a potential casino is revealing more than it hides. He says an announcement is imminent, adding, “I 
believe we’ll be doing a project that is complementary to the development that has happened downtown and in the rest of the community.” That’s got ‘casino’ written all over it. McCarthy wittily brushed aside potential opposition with “If I propose motherhood, apple pie and baseball, there will be pushback.” Whoever applies has but 12 days to get their initial fee paid and, in Schenectady’s case, it looks as though retail developer Galesi Group will be it. In that event, Galesi will have to attend a New York State Gaming Commission conference on April 30, where everybody gets to look daggers at each other while regulators lay out the next step in the process, which is currently moving like greased lightning.
It’s quite possible that the U.S. Treasury Department may ask U.S. casinos not just Continue reading
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