Foxwoods Investor Caught in Hen House

Philadelphia's casinos haven't even opened yet and already one of the investors has been caught straying into pay-to-play territory. As the Inquirer's Jeff Shields reports today, Peter de Paul - developer of the Dockside apartment building - violated state law when he handed out some $31, 750 to various political candidates, no doubt because he really believes in their policy agendas. Now De Paul and his fellow Foxwoods investors are going to have to pay $200,000 in fines to the state.

If you recall, De Paul was the guy who tried to weasle out of his $500,000 public art obligation for Dockside, which was built on a publically-owned pier. He complained that he'd lose his shirt if he had to shell out all that money for improving the public area of the building. Ultimately, he worked a deal with the city to built a cheaper version of sculptor Magdalena Abakonowicz's school of flying fish. The price tag ended up being a little over $200,000 - about the same price as breaking the state gaming law.

DePaul isn't the only investor to overlook the state law forbidding gambling investors to make political contributions. Dan Keating, of Sugarhouse, and Herman Wooden, of Riverwalk, also got fined for too much generosity.

There's also been a lot of fuss about a new law signed by Gov. Rendell allowing the casinos to serve free drinks to high rollers. But let's keep things in perspective: In Pennsylvania, it's often easier to give drinks away for free than obtain a liquor license from the Liquor Control Board. Take Rendell's own summer hideaway, the Lombard Swim Club. Unable (or perhaps unwilling) to go through the hoops necessary to get a liquor license, the club has happily poured free drinks for years. For some members, there's no better reason to join.