10.06.07Developers exercised control in tribe's casino push
By STEPHANIE VOSK
and GEORGE BRENNAN
Cape Cod Times
Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series. (Part 2)
MASHPEE — With a multimillion-dollar investment on the line and federal recognition within reach, it was casino developers, not Mashpee Wampanoag leaders, who controlled the tribe's interests, records indicate.
Investors, looking to expand their casino empire, and a few tribal council leaders kept most of the 1,500 tribe members in the dark about their secret deals. And with questions raised internally about tribe finances in 2004, Herb Strather, a Detroit casino developer who helped bankroll the tribe's quest for federal recognition, was desperate to keep Chairman Glenn Marshall in office.
That year, Paula Peters, whose father once held the council chairmanship, announced she would run against Marshall.
The announcement spurred Strather to write a letter to the council on Nov. 24, 2004, about three months before the election. Strather wrote that it would be a mistake to allow Peters to run against Marshall for the chairman's seat.
"It has always been my understanding that Ms. Peters is anti-gaming," Strather wrote. "... What happens to the confidence of our investors who have stuck by us in this long battle?"
Those investors would turn out to be South African casino moguls Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman, who have had their hands in a major portion of the gaming industry in New England: Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and Twin River in Rhode Island.
In the same letter, Strather endorsed Marshall. "If there were a change in leadership, I fear my financial partners would rethink their position, as the majority of them invested after meeting and being comfortable with Glenn and Shawn (Hendricks)."
At the time, Hendricks, now tribal council chairman, was vice chairman of the tribal council.
Strather told the Cape Cod Times in spring 2006 that he had given the tribe $15 million to help it gain federal recognition, making no public mention of other investors at the time. Without the designation, the tribe would be unable to open an Indian casino.
Through two spokesmen, Strather said Wednesday he remembered writing the letter but declined to comment.
But the letter is evidence that Strather, his investors in concert with Marshall, not the tribe at large, were the driving force behind the push to bring casino gaming to Massachusetts. (Complete Story)
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