{"id":284280,"date":"2023-08-07T20:16:30","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T01:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=284280"},"modified":"2023-08-08T11:01:30","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T16:01:30","slug":"peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/","title":{"rendered":"Peoria Tribe Can\u2019t Fine Casino Management Company $2M: Judge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Peoria tribe of Oklahoma\u2019s<\/a> gaming commission can’t levy a fine of $2 million on a casino management company it accused of \u201cunjust enrichment,\u201d a judge has ruled.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Buffalo Run Casino & Resort in Miami, Okla. Fining its former management company $2M isn’t OK, says a judge. (Image: Peoria)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pottawatomie County District Judge John Canavan determined that the gaming commission \u201clacked jurisdiction\u201d to fine Direct Enterprise Development LLC (DED), which managed the tribe\u2019s Buffalo Run Casino & Resort in Miami, Okla., Tulsa World reports.<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2019, the tribe sued David Qualls and Tony Holden, joint owners of DED, claiming they had \u201cimproperly received management fees in excess of $2 million by way of an accounting process inconsistent with GAAP (generally accepted accounting processes.)\u201d<\/p>\n

IGRA Violation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The tribe\u2019s lawsuit came soon after it had been reprimanded by the federal National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) for allegedly violating the Indian Gaming Regulation Act (IGRA). That\u2019s because it had \u201coperated under an unapproved amendment to its management agreement with [DED]\u201d without federal approval, according to NIGC.<\/p>\n

Under IGRA, net gaming revenue can only be used to fund tribal government and programs, promote economic development, provide for the general welfare of tribal members, or fund charitable organizations or local government. Thus, issues around commercial management companies running tribal casinos are delicate.<\/p>\n

\n

According to NIGC, the casino \u201cregularly made payments to DED principals in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the management agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The tribe blamed DED and launched a civil suit against Qualls and Holden, accusing them of \u201cembezzlement, unjust enrichment, and deceit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims the tribe was unaware of the violations until it received notice from NIGC in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u2018No Calculation\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The judge dismissed all eight claims against Qualls and Holden and ruled the fine hadn’t been authorized by tribal ordinance or by the commission\u2019s bylaws. That\u2019s because \u201cneither identified any amount of potential fine or method of calculation as required by federal, state or tribal constitutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the failure to specify the amount of potential fines or a method of calculation, the Peoria Tribe Gaming Commission lacked jurisdiction to issue any fine against either defendant, and the unauthorized fines which plaintiff seeks to collect in this action therefore violate due process,\u201d continued Canavan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Holden told Tulsa World<\/em> that the litigation had ruined his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve lost everything I own,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything. Home. Marriage. Every dollar. And there\u2019s no recourse because they have sovereign immunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lawyer for the Peoria, Mike McBride III, said the tribe believes the case was \u201cwrongly decided\u201d and intends to appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Peoria tribe of Oklahoma\u2019s gaming commission can’t levy a fine of $2 million on a casino management company it accused of \u201cunjust enrichment,\u201d a judge has ruled. Pottawatomie County District Judge John Canavan determined that the gaming commission \u201clacked jurisdiction\u201d to fine Direct Enterprise Development LLC (DED), which managed the tribe\u2019s Buffalo Run Casino […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":284281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,84511,18456],"tags":[87418,83001,81917,87417],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPeoria Tribe Can\u2019t Fine Casino Management Company $2M<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma can\u2019t fine Direct Enterprise Development, rules Pottawatomie County District Judge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peoria Tribe Can\u2019t Fine Casino Management Company $2M\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma can\u2019t fine Direct Enterprise Development, rules Pottawatomie County District Judge.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-08T01:16:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-08T16:01:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/peori.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1030\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"541\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/\",\"name\":\"Peoria Tribe Can\u2019t Fine Casino Management Company $2M\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/peori.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-08T01:16:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-08T16:01:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma can\u2019t fine Direct Enterprise Development, rules Pottawatomie County District Judge.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/peoria-tribe-cant-fine-casino-management-company-2m\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/peori.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/peori.jpg\",\"width\":1030,\"height\":541,\"caption\":\"The Buffalo Run Casino & Resort in Miami, OK. But fining its former management company $2M is not OK, says judge. 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He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. 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