Team Ilitch has been bankrolling efforts by the Bay Mills Indian Community to build another casino in Port Huron, MI
A surrogate testified last month (November 2006) that more than $10 million has been spent in legal fees alone.
Previously, publicists for Detroit's Ilitch Family (Mike and Marian Ilitch and their seven children), founders of Little Caesars pizza carryouts and owners of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings sports teams, have craftly denied any significant commitment to or stake in plans for another Bay Mills Indian Community casino -- this one in Port Huron, MI.
Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate in 1994 Michael Malik and Tom Celani, Ilitch business associates, introduced the Bay Mills Indian Community to the Ilitches when the pair proposed the Indians develop an off-reservation Harrah's managed casino in the Foxtown area of Detroit (the Ilitches have substantial real estate holdings in Foxtown). That proposal eventually died. But now, Marian Ilitch (through Ilitch Holdings, Inc. subsidiary IH Gaming, Inc.) owns 100% of MotorCity Casino, one of Detroit's three large commercial casinos.
Then there were reports of Ilitch and affiliates' involvement with Bay Mills Indians land swap proposals for Auburn Hills, Vanderbilt, Charlotte Beach and Port Huron:
06.16.05
NewsDay.com
". . . In the 1990s, both backed the Bay Mills Indian tribe in their ultimately failed bid to construct a casino in Port Huron, Mich. . ."
But now, there's been recent confirmation that the Ilitches and their casino syndication associate Michael J. Malik, Sr. remain invested in and active with the Bay Mills Indian Community in Port Huron:
11.20.06
Port Huron Times Herald
" . . . Mike Malik, a Clay Township native who has been working with the Ilitch family for six years to develop a casino at the Thomas Edison Inn, raised several questions at that March council meeting.
"He expressed doubt, for example, that all 11 of Michigan's recognized Indian tribes would endorse DeFeo's casino. A single tribe could block the project, including the Bay Mills band that's part of the Edison Inn proposal. . ."
". . . Dick Cummings, president of the Michigan Machinists Council and a strong supporter of the Malik-Ilitch casino, went even further.
"I'm no genius, but I can do the math," Cummings said. "If a person goes around asking $100,000 a point, that adds up to $10 million. Well, no one builds a casino for $10 million. You don't build the parking garage for that. (Malik and the Ilitches) have spent more than $10 million just in legal fees."
You may also want to review these posts:
The Verifiable Truth: Rep. Candice Miller introduced HR 813 on February 13, 2003 to approve settlement of unsubstantiated land claims and a casino for Port Huron
The Verifiable Truth: Aide negotiated '11th Hour' Port Huron casino deal for Gov. Engler; then returned to private practive, retained by those who got the deal
The Verifiable Truth: Voters & local officials questioned Gov. Engler's flip-flop on casino policy and the Port Huron casino deal he signed on his way out the door.
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