Wampanoag financial backers a terror funding source?

How sadly ironic as we prepare for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and its tragic ties to Boston to learn that Massachusetts politicians like Deval Patrick, Therese Murray and Karen Spilka have been taking campaign contributions from lobbyists on the payroll of a Malaysian gambling syndicate interests now accused of funding and associating with Islamic extremist and terrorists on U.S. watch lists - according to a report in the Florida Clarion.


Genting Malaysia, the money behind Cedric Cromwell and the Mashpee Wampanoag casino scheme, is accused by the Clarion investigative report of a disturbing pattern of mult-imillion dollar payments to Islamic extremist organizations and affiliations with individuals and groups on U.S. terrorist watch lists.

"Genting executives told Senate investigators at the time that the millions of dollars funneled to various Islamic extremist organizations known to finance jihad were made under direst and viewed as a cost of doing business for a Chinese businessman in heavily Islam-run Malaysia. Investigators had reason to be skeptical when photos of K.T. Lim and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il surfaced. The Senate investigators also obtained photos of Lim socializing with at least two Islamic figures wanted by the United States for terrorist activities."


Perhaps Governor Patrick should have been "counting every check" when the Boston Globe reported earlier this year that he'd failed to keep his pledge on casino campaign cash coming from groups lobbying on behalf of the Genting-financed Mashpee Wampanoag.  Therese Murray's "Ca-ching" statements after receiving more money from gaming lobbyists than any other state legislator have a less appealing tone knowing it was Genting cash laundered through the Mashpee Wampanoag and their lobbyists.

Worse than the funding source is Murray and Patrick's proposed, lobbyist written special interest gaming legislation for Massachusetts which turns over control of Southeastern Massachusetts to Genting (the de facto owners of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe since the tribe is now more than $25 million in debt to the Malaysian syndicate).  Genting will take the first slice of any of the un-audited, un-regulated and tax-free casino profits from the Governor's proposed Indian-only gaming zone in Region C.  If past foreign-financed Indian casino schemes are any indicator, Genting will funnel somewhere between $300 to $400 million tax-free a year out of Massachusetts to their Malaysian bank accounts.  The same bank accounts which apparently have been used to get Wampanoag and lobbyist campaign contributions into the hands of Massachusetts politicians while simultaneously giving tens of millions of dollars to extremist groups linked to global terrorism.

Another troubling claim in the report include Genting business links with Chinese organized crime triads.  Under the proposed legislation, the finances and background of all groups seeking gaming licenses in the state will be under investigations to ensure no organized crime or hints of corruption exist.  However,  if the Governor's scheme goes through, the Mashpee Wampanoag will be exempt under federal Indian gaming rules from any state-related background investigations or oversight.  Here is what the Clarion had to say about Genting's organized crime connections:

"Senate investigators were also interested in K.T. Lim’s relationship with Stanley Ho, the Asian casino magnate who has been identified as a member of the Chinese Triad, the Chinese crime organization, by the U.S. Justice Department and by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ho has been denied a casino license in every jurisdiction except in Macau and North Korea. Genting has refused to address their business dealings with Ho and his company Shun Tak Holdings Ltd."


It doesn't take a a forensic accountant to perform basic due diligence on the Mashpee Wampanoag financiers.  Given the tribe's wretched recent history of convictions on fraud and political corruption charges one would think the Commonwealth's leadership would be paying just the slightest bit of attention to this issue and Genting's history of involvement in Indian gaming in the U.S.  For example, the Clarion reports:

• "Genting made millions of dollars as the money-men behind two controversial Indian Casino gaming developments in the Eastern United States. In both cases, Genting operations were directed by G. Michael Brown, a former New Jersey Attorney General who was later charged with embezzlement and cocaine use...."  Strike One!
  
  
• "Genting was the financier of the Seneca Niagara Casino Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York. Genting charged the tribe an exorbitant 28 percent interest rate, potentially in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulations under the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Genting also stayed in the deal for almost 15 years when they were legally limited to five. Seneca Tribal Council members have testified that armed Chinese thugs showed up to collect Genting’s money when tribal lawyers pointed out that Genting was violating the law..."   Strike Two!

This latest revelation of funding and other ties to terrorists groups should be strike three. All of this is public record information.  Isn't it time we put the breaks on the special interest plans to set-aside Southeastern Massachusetts for any non-transparent, non-tax paying, non-competitive casino development schemes?