State AG targets raceway operator Bangor license central to dispute

BANGOR – The Maine Harness Racing Commission is slated to consider the status of Bangor Raceway’s racing license during a hearing in Augusta next month, two weeks into this year’s harness-racing season, which opens Friday.

The purpose of the hearing, set for June 6 at the Augusta Civic Center, is to determine if Bangor Historic Track Inc.’s application to conduct live harness racing and the conditional license it was granted on Jan. 31 should be denied “because of the information provided to date and BHT’s failure to comply with repeated requests to cooperate in an investigation of Shawn Scott,” according to Assistant Attorney General John Richards’ petition. Scott is a Nevada businessman who owns the company that operates the track.

In the petition, Richards states the commission’s staff and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources joined the Attorney General’s Office in asking that Bangor Historic Track’s application for the 2003 racing season and conditional license be denied and that the remaining live racing dates be reallocated to some other individual or organization.

At issue is whether Scott complied with requests for releases Richards needed to obtain investigative records in Nevada, Louisiana and New York, where Scott has conducted business.

Scott needs a parimutuel racing license to carry out his plans to develop a $30 million entertainment complex at the city-owned harness-racing track at Bass Park.

Last fall, the city of Bangor was approached by Scott’s company, Capital Seven, with a proposal to develop a “racino,” a racetrack with slot machines, to bolster harness racing, which has fallen on hard times, with revenue from slots.

Scott and his associates say the project would create hundreds of jobs and generate an estimated $75 million in annual revenue, a portion of which would go to the state for agricultural, social service and education programs.

Voters in Bangor and statewide must approve the installation of the slots. Bangor will vote on the installation at Bass Park in a citywide referendum on June 10. A statewide referendum to place slots at racetracks in Bangor and Scarborough will take place on Nov. 4.

In addition, Capital Seven must strike a development deal with the city. Negotiations currently are under way.

In his petition for the hearing issued May 19, Richards alleges the releases, due May 5, still had not been provided.

Richards claims that Scott repeatedly has delayed and prevented an investigation into his suitability to own and license a racing venue in Bangor.

Attorney Christopher Howard of the Portland law firm Pierce Atwood, Scott’s legal counsel, said that Scott did, in fact, provide the information, though not in the form that Richards wanted. He said that Richards wanted Scott to promise not to pursue legal action against any of the officials in the three states over information they might provide Maine as part of the licensing process. But Scott did not see that as necessary to the investigation.

Howard provided the Bangor Daily News copies of the releases, signed by Scott, to the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission and State Gaming Control Board. The fax cover sheet accompanying the releases shows they were sent at 5:07 p.m. on May 5.

“We are going to file an objection to the [assistant] attorney general’s petition, and we are going to ask that a more formal and controlled procedure be put into place to ensure that we get a full, fair and unbiased investigation,” Howard said Wednesday. He said that if the application and license are denied, Capital Seven would appeal the decision in Kennebec County Superior Court.

“This has been dragging on for way too long, and there still hasn’t been any good substantive investigation. We are not getting a high-quality job,” he said, adding, “I certainly take issue with the tone behind this very accusatory [document].”

Scott issued the following response Wednesday: “The timing of this letter on the eve of our race season is troublesome and I have very serious concerns about how the status of Bangor Historic Track Inc.’s license impacts the city of Bangor and our plan to bring new jobs and economic growth to the Bangor region.

“I have cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office by signing and delivering their requested information releases and ask that the inaccuracies in today’s letter regarding what I have done to date and the status of my licenses in other states be quickly corrected.”

Among the allegations in the petition filed by Richards are that Scott was deemed “unsuitable” for licensure and avoided a denial of his application for a gaming license in Nevada by withdrawing it; that Scott encountered similar problems in Louisiana and withdrew his application for a gaming license there; and that Scott applied for a gaming license in New York and only received a “valid receipt” pending a suitability investigation there.

Bangor City Solicitor Norman Heitmann said the city was aware of the development and that he did not believe it would have an immediate effect on negotiations with Capital Seven. He said, however, that Scott could not carry out his plans for Bass Park without a racing license.

“What we need to do between now and June 6 is assume the worst-case scenario,” he said. “You’ve got to prepare for it.”

Heitmann confirmed the city is not precluded from negotiating a development deal with some other entity if the deal with Capital Seven falls through.