INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - Second Century Inc. recently reached a settlement over allegedly misused riverboat casino funds meant for local economic development.
The company's financial records will be made public to show that the company's principals used community funds for personal gain, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said. Approximately $6 million in revenue was dispersed to company principals Michael A. Pannos and Thomas Cappas, their family members and associates between 1997 and 2008.
“It is a shame the Second Century defendants exploited a weakness in the local development agreement law and steered casino revenue to their own personal benefit with no transparency rather than to the benefit of the community, and a shame that the State ever approved this arrangement in 1996,” Zoeller said.
“My office vowed to pursue this lawsuit for as long as it took to provide the public an accounting of the money that was intended to uplift residents of East Chicago."
East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland and Zoeller announced a $154,042 settlement against the company to recover some of the funds intended for community enrichment. The funds recovered will be used in a new crime prevention program for the city.