Posts Tagged Michigan
Former Cop’s Arrest Story Differs from Dan Gilbert’s Version
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, People on October 30, 2009
October 30, 2009… A former Michigan state trooper tells a different story of Dan Gilbert’s arrest for operation of a gambling business than the Cavs owner has been peddling to the news media. Gilbert has made it seem a minor episode, best forgotten.
Gilbert, a billionaire of the mortgage business and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been a lead proponent of a monopoly casino issue on the November ballot. Issue 3 will give Gilbert a monopoly casino in Cleveland.
A lieutenant detective tells of the arrest of Gilbert when he was a Michigan student. He posed as the father of a gambling debtor. He said a victim told him of a strong-armed threat unless he paid. He also linked a car filled with manure to the betting business as a method of forcing collections of gambling debts.
The detective, John Fiedler recorded the meeting with Gilbert when he went to pay the debt. He said he was shown a ledger with betting data with pages of bets made, some as high as $1,000 or more.
Here is his statement in full:
“My name is John Fiedler, and I was a member of the Michigan Department of State Police for 25 years.
“In 1981, while I was a Detective Lieutenant in charge of the organized crime unit, the East Lansing Police asked my unit to assist them with a criminal investigation into an illegal bookmaking operation that eventually led to the arrest of Dan Gilbert.
“I have read Mr. Gilbert’s explanation of what happened that day. I’m here to tell you what really happened.
“East Lansing Police received a complaint from a young man who owed a significant amount of money to the bookies. It was over $1000 but I cannot remember the exact amount.
“After interviewing the victim, I had him call and say that his father planned to pay his debt and arrange a meeting between the bookies and his dad. I posed as the young man’s father and entered an off-campus house where I met two men. One of them was Dan Gilbert, and Dan Gilbert did all the talking.
“I was wearing a hidden recorder and transmitter and I asked him why he believed that my ‘son’ owed him so much money. The other man left the room and returned with a ledger. He showed me all of the bets that he had made – and I got to see lists of bets that others had made. I do not remember the number of bets but several pages of the ledger book were filled.
“There were $10 bets, $100 bets and even some $1,000 bets.
“The victim had personally told me that Mr. Gilbert had grabbed him and pushed him up against the wall, making threats that he had better pay up. Another police officer who worked on the case said one victim who did not pay had his car filled with manure and it contained a letter threatening bodily harm.
“I asked Mr. Gilbert why he felt the need to threaten my ‘son’ and he told me that he was owed the money and my ‘son’ refused to pay.
“So I paid him the money, signaled to the East Lancing Police, and they entered the house and arrested both men.
“I understand that the voters of Ohio have a big decision to make on Tuesday. When I learned Mr. Gilbert’s characterization of what happened back in 1981, I agreed to tell the people of Ohio what really transpired. Mr. Gilbert was part of a serious, organized bookmaking ring that threatened some of its victims with violence.
“I am also here today because I learned that some members of Ohio’s law enforcement community believe that Issue 3 would severely limit the scope and authority of law enforcement over owners and investors of Ohio’s casinos. Based on my police experience in investigating crimes of this nature, I completely agree with concerns raised by the Ohio law enforcement community. Casinos are the type of industry that demands tough, impartial and complete oversight.
“I am not here to tell Ohio voters how to vote on Issue 3. I am here to try and make sure Ohio voters have the facts they need to make an informed choice.”
Dan Gilbert… 2-Timer, 3-Timer, 4-Timer?
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development on October 13, 2009
October 13, 2009… What do we really know about Dan Gilbert? Not much. But it sounds as if he’s the kind of guy that plays one city off against another for his own benefit.
I think anyone with any sense understands what Gilbert is about.
A columnist in the Detroit News questions Gilbert’s motives about his dedication to Detroit (oh, not Cleveland?).
“Dan Gilbert, the self-proclaimed Detroiter working big plans for his diverse business empire, remains bullish on his hometown,” writes Daniel Howes.
Howes says that Gilbert – who supposedly located a few jobs here – plans to locate his headquarters for Quicken Loans in downtown Detroit, along with other business activities. That’s 2,000 jobs, they say, for Detroit.
“But there’s potentially big money to be made down in Ohio where Gilbert, the principal owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a prominent force behind a ballot initiative (Vote NO on 3) to green light casinos for the Buckeye State’s four largest cities. Bullishness, it seems, has limits when opportunity knocks,” writes Howes.
He goes on: “The bottom lines for Gilbert are that casinos will come to Ohio, surrounded as it is with gaming in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan. And, second, that Detroit’s casinos can effectively compete with new rivals in Ohio – especially Toledo – because they are already competing against Michigan’s roughly 20 casinos outside the southeast corner. That’s debatable, too.”
The bottom line is that Gilbert is interested not in Detroit, Toledo or Cleveland. He’s interested in the bottom line. HIS.
The entire column follows:
Ohio gaming tests Detroit boosters
Dan Gilbert, the self-proclaimed Detroiter working big plans for his diverse business empire, remains bullish on his hometown.
It’s where he plans to locate the corporate headquarters of his Quicken Loans Inc. next spring. It’s the struggling downtown he says he wants to help with innovative development that makes a difference. The beleaguered city also is a transnational hub for Vegas-style gaming in the Midwest, home to MGM Grand, MotorCity Casino, Greektown and, across the river, Casino Windsor.
But there’s potentially big money to be made down in Ohio, where Gilbert, the principal owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a prominent force behind a ballot initiative to greenlight casinos for the Buckeye State’s four largest cities. Bullishness, it seems, has limits when opportunity knocks.
“I guess it is a little bit ironic,” he said in an interview Monday. Adding to the irony is the fact that Gilbert’s main man on the Ohio casino effort is Matt Cullen, the General Motors exec-turned-Gilbert guy and arguably the biggest Mr. Detroit this side of the city’s official economic development apparatus.
Except for one. Also partnering with Gilbert and Cullen is former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, assuming the Ohio casino initiative passes and the opportunity for investment becomes real. Archer appeared earlier this month at a forum in Toledo to promote casino gaming in Ohio, testifying that three casinos here provided jobs and economic development but not the feared spike in crime.
The best part: The Detroit guys and their partner, Penn National Gaming Inc. of Wyomissing, Pa., are relying on a “don’t-let-your-gambling-dollars-leave-the-state” campaign to persuade Ohioans to approve casinos after four failed tries.
If the homer argument worked for Michigan against Windsor, the thinking goes, why not use it in Ohio against Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania — especially amid tough times with double-digit unemployment?
Right. The locals in Detroit should love this. Start with the Ilitch family, whose interests in Detroit and MotorCity Casino, almost are as old as Gilbert’s company. Then come those pushing to get Greektown out of Chapter 11.
Finally, there are Mayor Dave Bing and the government bureaucrats in Detroit and Lansing who depend on Detroit gaming taxes to fatten slimmed-down revenue projections.
“We were kind of just watching this opportunity unfolding in Ohio where we have significant business interests,” Gilbert said, confirming that his company expressed preliminary interest in acquiring Greektown Casino out of bankruptcy. “We’re about rebuilding the urban cores of the cities we’re involved with. It really is something that is not a threat on either side of Lake Erie.”
That’s debatable. Less so, Gilbert says, are Quicken’s plans for Detroit: The mortgage lender still plans to move roughly 2,000 people — including its executive team — to a new headquarters in the Compuware building on Campus Martius. Quicken still plans to bring related businesses — Quicken’s title company and Gilbert’s Fathead sports marketing company — and “technology companies” he won’t identify.
The bottom lines for Gilbert are that casinos will come to Ohio, surrounded as it is with gaming in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan. And, second, that Detroit’s casinos can effectively compete with new rivals in Ohio — especially Toledo — because they already are competing against Michigan’s roughly 20 casinos outside its southeast corner. That’s debatable, too.
Under terms of Ohio’s Issue 3, to be considered by voters on Nov. 3, Gilbert would have options to build casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Partner Penn National would have options on projects in Columbus and Toledo, the most likely competitor to Detroit’s casinos.
“Gilbert is … the face of the deal there, no doubt about it,” said Jake Miklojcik, a gaming expert who is president of Michigan Consultants Inc. and a temporary board member of Greektown Casino. “There is an impact. It’s the leakage that’s the issue. And I do think gaming in Ohio is inevitable.”
Which tells you everything you need to know.