When the Mohegans duck and cover
You would have been hard pressed to know anything about the scandals engulfing the Mohegans' Pennsylvania casino by reading last week's announcement that the head of the tribe's gambling enterprises was resigning.
The news release about the resignation of Bobby Soper, dated Wednesday, praised "Bobby," who is a tribal member, for pursuing the growth of the Mohegan gaming enterprise.
"He helped us achieve important gains across the country and around the world," boasted Tribal Chairman Kevin P. Brown, giving the outgoing CEO a figurative pat on the back.
You would hardly know from that news release that the sudden departure of Soper, who was groomed for the top gaming job, left the tribe in a huge lurch, having to abruptly whistle in former Chief Executive Officer Mitchell Etess from retirement.
You also would not know from the release praising the resigning Soper that, at the very same time, the Mohegans were trying to put out raging regulatory fires in Pennsylvania.
We didn't learn until the next day, after some reporting by The Day, that at the same time the Mohegans were praising their departing CEO, they were notifying the Securities and Exchange Commission that they would be filing a quarterly report late, because of irregularities under review by the gaming regulators in Pennsylvania.
First we learn from the SEC filing, which the tribe did not in any other way make public beyond filing it with the agency, that Pennsylvania regulators are reviewing "possible operational control deficiencies" at the casino in Wilkes-Barre that could lead to disciplinary action, including fines.
The tribe also disclosed to the SEC that the Mohegans ended a business relationship with a local advertising and marketing company in which Soper had an interest that he did not disclose to the tribe's management board.
It turns out the company also is not registered with Pennsylvania regulators as a gaming services provider.
Yikes.
Oh, and by the way, in another perhaps unrelated scandal, the vice president of the Mohegans' Pennsylvania casino was charged in 2016 with a scheme federal authorities said resulted in the theft of more than $400,000 from the casino.
Turns out Wilkes-Barre is a regular little scandal machine.
So let's look at a sunny version of the tribe's actions here.
Maybe the sudden departure by Soper, who said his resignation is part of a career move he is not at liberty to describe, is unrelated to the irregularities still being uncovered in Pennsylvania.
But even if the two are unrelated, however far-fetched that may seem, Mohegan Tribal Chairman Kevin Brown was at the very least very remiss in not publicly disclosing all the regulatory problems in Pennsylvania at the same time he was praising the suddenly departing — I refrain from saying fleeing — chief executive officer.
But if these dots get further connected, beyond the chief executive officer having an undisclosed interest in a company doing business with the casino, the tribal chairman better get a lot more practiced in being forthcoming with the people of Connecticut.
After all, this is a tribe that is busy pursuing agreements with Connecticut — from a sweet purchase deal for the Norwich Hospital property to the development of a third casino in the state.
People deserve a straight answer as to why the chief gambling business executive, a tribal member, left with no credible explanation, just about in the middle of the night.
In hearing Brown praise the resigning Soper last week, I couldn't help but think of President Trump, praising his resigning national security chief.
Maybe Brown also will blame the resignation on the media.
This is the opinion of David Collins.
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