Lawsuit backers invest in casinos

as recently re-posted on .com

June 16, 2005 BY KATIE THOMAS Newsday STAFF WRITER

Gateway Funding Associates, the company that is bankrolling the Shinnecock land-claim lawsuit filed Wednesday, is headed by two Detroit-area investors with a history in casino development. Marian Ilitch, whose family owns the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit RedWings and the Little Caesar's Pizza franchise, owns the MotorCity Casino in Detroit, one of three non-tribal casinos in the city. According to press reports, she has also lobbied to legalize gambling in Hawaii. The second investor, Michael Malik, is a Detroit real estate developer who had a stake in the MotorCity Casino until Ilitch bought out his share this April. Ilitch and Malik created Gateway Funding Associates specifically to back the Shinnecocks, said their spokesman, Tom Shields, but the investors have worked together on other projects. In the 1990s, both backed the Bay Mills Indian tribe in their ultimately failed bid to construct a casino in Port Huron, Mich. The two are now proposing a casino in Barstow, Calif. with the Los Coyotes Indians.

Related Documents Read the Shinnecock complaint (Jun 15, 2005) Photo Gallery Photos: Shinnecocks at federal court Special Section Complete Coverage: Shinnecock Tribe More Coverage Lawsuit backers invest in casinos (Jun 16, 2005) Photo Shinnecocks file suit in Central Islip (Newsday Photo/Daniel Goodrich) (Jun 15, 2005) Graphics Shinnecock's claim (Newsday)