Today the jury begins casino land trial
Steve Wynn can participate as a witness in the trial that will define the accusations of three men for the Everett casino land.
US.- The Massachusetts state will start today the first trial related to gaming industry against Charles Lightbody, Dustin DeNunzio and Anthony Gattineri. The business partners may face a 20 year conviction, if they are found guilty of hiding the Mafia “La Cosa Nostra” participation in the financial interest in the land where Wynn Resorts is constructing the Everett Casino.
Charles Lightbody is the key of the trial, due to its 12 percent interest in FBT Everett Realty, the corporation, which own the land. Lightbody is a convicted felon who keeps strong links with “La Cosa Nostra.” Both DeNunzio and Gattineri are accused of hiding this information to Massachusetts authorities. They are being investigated for fraud and the sentence could set over 20 years in prison as well as the state’s retention of the money from the sale of the property.
The trial could last a month and several witnesses, including Steve Wynn, were identified by prosecutors. The Massachusetts law prevented convicted felons from owning casino’s financial interests. This could be the reason why the accused men have illegally changed official documents to prove Lightbody had sold his part of the FBT Everett months before Wynn Resorts has bidden for the land.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission discovered Lightbody’s presence in the deal once he talked about it with Darin Bufalino, a reputed Mafia member who is serving a seven year sentence for extortion. Wynn Resorts, after the investigation, renegotiated the land deal for US$35 million and started paying US$100,000 per month. The initial agreement had been US$75 million. If Lightbody is found guilty, Wynn Resorts could lose the license according to prosecutors. Nevertheless, the federal indictment alleges that both Massachusetts Gaming Commission and Wynn Resorts are victims of the fraud.
The defendant’s lawyers denied any wrongdoing. They won last week several legal victories as US District Judge Nathaniel Gorton granted evidence that can be now introduced at today’s trial. Conversely, prosecutors alleged that DeNunzio –real estate developer graduated from Harvard and MIT– helped Lightbody to hide the ownership introducing changes in documents from July 2013. Illegal documents reveal that Lightbody supposedly sold its interest to Gattineri in August 2012.
