Las Vegas sportsbook operator fined $1.5M; CEO to resign
David PurdumESPN Staff Writer
Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine and the company's high-profile president and CEO Lee Amaitis will resign as part of a pending settlement with Nevada Gaming Control.
The NGC filed a complaint in May alleging CG Technology failed to fix "systemic problems" with the company's computerized bookmaking system, which resulted in "thousands of CGT patrons being incorrectly paid on winning wagers" from August 2011 to March 2015. The complaint alleged the company underpaid bettors on parlays and round-robin bets by approximately $700,000.
CG Technology operates the sportsbooks at the Cosmopolitan, Venetian, Palms and M Resort, among others.
CG Technology has taken steps to repay impacted bettors and, according to the settlement, corrected the software error that resulted in the inaccurate payments. In the settlement, the company denied allegations that it "had any intent to profit from the errors that resulted in the miscalculated payments."
The NGC still has to accept the settlement and could not be immediately reached Wednesday night.
"The Board will not tolerate improper or incorrect payments to patrons by gaming licensees, and therefore takes this matter extremely seriously," Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett told the Las Vegas Sun, which first reported the settlement. "This settlement contains several harsh punishments and requirements for remediation that reflect those concerns."
Amaitis has resigned, effective Aug. 31, 2016, according to the settlement, ending a tenuous tenure in the Nevada gaming industry. A former executive for brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, Amaitis has been a controversial figure since arriving in Las Vegas in 2008. He came under scrutiny after a vice president in charge of the sportsbook operations was indicted in 2012 and pleaded guilty to federal charges that he knowingly accepted wagers from an illegal sports betting ring that made an estimated $34 million in bets with then Cantor Gaming.
In 2014, the company rebranded, changing its name from Cantor Gaming to CG Technology after paying a $5.5 million fine resulting from the scandal. The $5.5 million fine is the largest ever handed out by Nevada Gaming Control.
Amaitis' replacement has not been named and the NGC still has to accept the settlement and is expected to hear the matter at its next meeting at the end of July.
In addition to the fine, the settlement requires CG Technology to set aside $25,000 in an escrow account to pay any remaining claims of underpayment that can be established during a six-month period. Any remaining portion of the $25,000 will be donated to the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling.
The company also will be required to advertise the notice of inaccurate payments for two seven-day periods in a daily newspaper published in Clark County, Nevada, according to the settlement.
An independent third party will oversee CG Technology's gaming software for a period of one year after the Nevada Gaming Commission accepts the settlement.
David PurdumESPN Staff Writer
Las Vegas sportsbook operator CG Technology agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine and the company's high-profile president and CEO Lee Amaitis will resign as part of a pending settlement with Nevada Gaming Control.
The NGC filed a complaint in May alleging CG Technology failed to fix "systemic problems" with the company's computerized bookmaking system, which resulted in "thousands of CGT patrons being incorrectly paid on winning wagers" from August 2011 to March 2015. The complaint alleged the company underpaid bettors on parlays and round-robin bets by approximately $700,000.
CG Technology operates the sportsbooks at the Cosmopolitan, Venetian, Palms and M Resort, among others.
CG Technology has taken steps to repay impacted bettors and, according to the settlement, corrected the software error that resulted in the inaccurate payments. In the settlement, the company denied allegations that it "had any intent to profit from the errors that resulted in the miscalculated payments."
The NGC still has to accept the settlement and could not be immediately reached Wednesday night.
"The Board will not tolerate improper or incorrect payments to patrons by gaming licensees, and therefore takes this matter extremely seriously," Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett told the Las Vegas Sun, which first reported the settlement. "This settlement contains several harsh punishments and requirements for remediation that reflect those concerns."
Amaitis has resigned, effective Aug. 31, 2016, according to the settlement, ending a tenuous tenure in the Nevada gaming industry. A former executive for brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, Amaitis has been a controversial figure since arriving in Las Vegas in 2008. He came under scrutiny after a vice president in charge of the sportsbook operations was indicted in 2012 and pleaded guilty to federal charges that he knowingly accepted wagers from an illegal sports betting ring that made an estimated $34 million in bets with then Cantor Gaming.
In 2014, the company rebranded, changing its name from Cantor Gaming to CG Technology after paying a $5.5 million fine resulting from the scandal. The $5.5 million fine is the largest ever handed out by Nevada Gaming Control.
Amaitis' replacement has not been named and the NGC still has to accept the settlement and is expected to hear the matter at its next meeting at the end of July.
In addition to the fine, the settlement requires CG Technology to set aside $25,000 in an escrow account to pay any remaining claims of underpayment that can be established during a six-month period. Any remaining portion of the $25,000 will be donated to the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling.
The company also will be required to advertise the notice of inaccurate payments for two seven-day periods in a daily newspaper published in Clark County, Nevada, according to the settlement.
An independent third party will oversee CG Technology's gaming software for a period of one year after the Nevada Gaming Commission accepts the settlement.
