He claimed that it was Heidner who had been the victim of an illegal inducement — paid to Laredo by an unnamed competitor to oust Gold Rush Gaming from its locations.<\/p>\n
Samborn said the purchase offer made to Laredo was \u201clegitimate\u201d and that Heidner would not have had \u201cany personal or financial interest in the proposed transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n
But two days after the gaming board filed its complaint, the regulator demanded that Heidner fire his director of operations, Ronald Bolger, as well as sales agent Daniel J. Gerardi.<\/p>\n
\n
The board said that Bolger admitted he had \u201cprofessional and social associations\u201d that \u201cpose a threat to the integrity of video gaming and discredit or tend to discredit the gaming industry of the state of Illinois,\u201d during an interview about an unrelated matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Heidner has been in the public eye ever since his name appeared on an FBI search warrant in September that authorized a raid on the home and offices of State Senator Martin Sandoval.<\/p>\n
Heidner told the Tribune<\/em> he had \u201czero clue\u201d why the FBI would be interested in evidence of dealings between himself and Sandoval as part of an ongoing corruption probe.<\/p>\nLicence Suspenzi<\/strong><\/h2>\nBut the raid prompted Tribune<\/em> reporters to do some digging. They unearthed close professional ties between Heidner and Rocco Suspenzi, chairman of the Parkway Bank and Trust.<\/p>\nIn 2003, Suspenzi was accused by the IGB of concealing his ownership interest in the now defunct Emerald Casino Project, along with the secret stakes of several mobbed-up partners. Suspenzi\u2019s bank also approved a seven-figure loan to one Mafia figure to finance his stake in the project.<\/p>\n
In September, the Illinois Racing Board granted Heidner a license to operate racing in Tinley Park, a major step in his mission to build a racino in the South Chicago suburb.<\/p>\n
But within days of the revelation of the Suspenzi connection, Governor Pritzker\u2019s administration canceled a deal to sell Heidner a state-owned plot of land earmarked for the development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Illinois video-gaming terminal (VGT) operator whose bid to build a racino in South Chicago was scuttled in October by his connections to a Mafia-associated banking clan is in danger of losing his gaming license over an unrelated incident. Rick Heidner, owner of Gold Rush Gaming, has been accused by Illinois regulators of offering a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":122843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Illinois VGT King Rick Heidner Could Lose License over $5M Inducement<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n