Industry analysts suggest Indian gaming backers of Wampanoag wavering

"The Mashpee project seems to have been something of a diversion for Genting, since its most serious efforts to gain a foothold in the Unites States have been in the state of New York. Its latest and largest effort is the proposed development at Aqueduct which would include both the racino and a major convention center nearby under plans publicly announced by the company." 

So writes legal analysts Dickinson Wright in a recent commentary evaluating Genting's U.S. positioning.  You see, Genting's primary regional investment is with the Aqueduct Racino in New York.  This project is now being threatened by Indian gaming competition.  As such, Genting's opposition in New York, while support for Indian gaming in neighboring Massachusetts becomes a bit of a conflict.  The Dickinson Wright analysts add:


"Genting claimed to have been a great fan of Indian gaming a couple of years ago when it pried the Mashpee casino project away from that tribe's original development partners – a project that appears to be in a state of permanent paralysis. Conversely, the company currently is telling Governor Andrew Cuomo that he must block any Indian gaming in New York. There might be some consistency to Genting's attitude about Indian gaming, but the corporate spokesmen have not yet explained it."


Further, the Genting team recently got to experience the current Wampanoag management savvy up front an personal when the antics of Cedric Cromwell and crew got them unceremoniously booted from the offices of Raynham Park's George Carney.  Some of Genting's shareholders have been unhappy with other "wobbly'" results and the questionable time and money following the Mashpee Wampanoag trail of failed deals cannot be a bright spot at shareholder meetings.  While the real Wampanoag tribe rank and file worry about the tens of millions of dollars in debt Cedric Cromwell is accumulating from his gaming syndicate overlords on the tribe's behalf; those same investors have to be questioning how long they should continue to fund a tribe with such a history of corruption and leadership with questionable credentials.


Perhaps a simple credit check on chairman Cromwell first would have been a good idea before Genting got into bed with the tribe under his leadership.  Conveniently, however for Cedric, the Genting money came to the tribe just in time for Cromwell so he could pay his personal back taxes, defaulted mortgage and past-due utility bills before being forced to move into a wigwam or back in with his mother and brother in the Dorchester family apartment where he grew up.