Report: Tropicana given 21 warnings

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Report: Tropicana given 21 warnings

JOHN ZIOMEK/Courier-Post file
Columbia-Sussex Corp. took over the Tropicana at the beginning of the year.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Courier-Post Staff
ATLANTIC CITY

The Division of Gaming Enforcement issued 21 warning letters to the Tropicana between Jan. 9 and Oct. 16, about a quarter of the total number of letters sent throughout the industry.

The number of alleged violations is indicative of the way Columbia-Sussex Corp., Tropicana's parent company, has operated since it took over the casino at the beginning of the year, the DGE said in a scathing report prepared for a relicensing hearing before the Casino Control Commission. The hearings began last week and are expected to wrap up by Friday, the day the casino's current license expires.

Rule bending, rule breaking and cost-cutting practices are at the heart of the case before the commission, which will decide if Tropicana is worthy of licensure and whether Columbia-Sussex and CEO William Yung are suitable to run a casino in Atlantic City.

"Tropicana and its new ownership have demonstrated a measurable resistance against compliance with regulations and have provided information on proposed staff reductions which has been misleading or contradictory," Acting DGE Director Yvonne G. Maher wrote in the report.
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