Seminoles allowed to reopen casinos

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Federal regulators have given permission to the Seminole Nation to reopen casinos, that have been closed nearly a year. <br><br>The tribe will reopen its most lucrative casino,

Tuesday, March 9th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Federal regulators have given permission to the Seminole Nation to reopen casinos, that have been closed nearly a year.

The tribe will reopen its most lucrative casino, the Mystic Winds Casino in Seminole, on Wednesday.

Two others will reopen within 60 days, but tribe officials have decided against reopening a fourth.

All have been closed since June 2003 after the National Indian Gaming Commission found that the casinos were operating illegal slot machines.

The tribe owes the federal agency $11 million in fines stemming from those games and other infractions.

Seminole Chief Kenneth Chambers said the fine amount and the method of paying it still are under negotiation. The gaming commission previously said it would consider reducing the fine.

In a letter Friday, gaming commission Chairman Phil Hogen authorized the tribe to reopen Mystic Winds, which is at the junction of Interstate 40 and State Highway 99, about 15 miles east of Shawnee.

That casino has 271 electronic machines and employs nearly 100 people, not including support staff, said Mayra Paddlety, executive director of the Seminole Nation Development Authority.

Chambers said the federal order allows the tribe to reopen in 30-day intervals the Rivermist Casino near Konawa and the Wewoka Gaming Center.

The Seminole Bingo and Casino southwest of Seminole will not reopen.

Reopening all three casinos will return about 220 people to work.

The tribe's former financier, Ivy Ong, told The Oklahoman last year that the tribe made more than $15 million a year from gaming.

Ong's company, Carlo World Wide Operations, formerly supplied gambling machines for the casinos. Those machines have been replaced by ones owned by Bally's and Diamond Games.