The Sleeping One
Many have called Bob LaPoint Sleeping Bear. Bob is by far from sleeping. He has managed to take care all his friends and relatives while lining his own pockets. Most recently seen at a Gaming Control Meeting courting Diana Knowles and her Sister Lori Hall. Apparently trying to convince the Commission to have a forced sale of Greektown. Many have suspected for a long time that these people are pushing for the sale to Tony Defoe. Sell-outs is the best word to describe these people. They do not have the best interest of the Members and the Members never appointed them to.
Greektown Casino financing questionedDetNews.com - Detroit,MI,USAAfter the board meeting, Sault Tribe Chairman Aaron Payment said Entertainment Interests Group's investment would give Greektown the financial leverage it ...See all stories on this topic
According to sources Tom Miller (Unit 4) entered into a partnership with a business after he was elected to the Board of Directors. Afterwards the company applied for a supplier license to do business with Greektown Casinos. Since then the company has been getting a steady stream of business. The business is reportedly located in Minneapolis, MN and provides onsite services at Greektown Casinos construction project close to 1000 miles away in Detroit, Mi.
That must be some contract for a business to purse it from so far away from their home office. There must be something incredibly special about this company that provides a one of a kind service that caters to the gaming industry. So why would Tom Miller enter into a partnership with a specialty company that would end up doing business with a gaming enterprise in which he has clout. Did he receive his partnership through some form of trade for his position on the Greektown Board? When did Miller become a partner?
How did he become a partner? If there are no issues why did Tom Miller not openly talk about it in one of his unit reports. If there are no questions of inappropriate behavior then why the secrecy.
The Board had a very little reaction to it and seemed to be common knowledge amongst them. Apparently Miller had disclosed it to the Board but not to the general public. It's alarming when the elected officials of the Tribe collaborate together to keep information from the general public.
Whether through inaction or direct action to hide information from the Tribal Members isn't the issue. It's their mutual obligation of united accountability of their peers. If the Board of Directors are not going to police themselves how long do they expect Tribal Members to tolerate this kind of sneaky behavior.
Aaron Payment replied to the Tribal Member by saying that an outside contractor was awarded the project and it's up to them to pick the sub-contracts. Payment's deflection that a general contractor does all the bidding is not quite true.Skanska was contracted by the Tribe to build the new resort in Greektown and involved with the new resort in St. Ignace. According to do*****entation Director Bob Lapoint's son has some ownership in a company that was given a contract worth nearly a million dollars from Kewadin Shores Casino. The company was not the low bidder and it was against the recommendation from Skanska. At same time another Tribal Member owned business had a contract taken away even though it provided the lowest bid.CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE AND DO*****ENTATION
(Greektown Construction Project 4/07)
It's pretty clear that Skanska took orders from someone and since Payment is the CEO of Sault Tribe who do you think told them what to do. What is the timeline of events from Miller's new partnership leading up to that company receiving profits from Greektown Casino. Is this Miller's payoff for being a loyal subject of Payment? Would it be any surprise?So far through do*****entation or other public information it's been good to be one of Payment's supporters.Marta Diaz $248,000 contract paid offSteve Morello $795,000 contractNancy Hatch $750,000 contract paid offIn addition, Morello handed out millions in contracts to law firms that are still on payroll today. Dozens of other Payment supporters given jobs with inflated salaries. Tom Miller has been steadfast voter for Payment in any crucial vote and nothing more then a yes man. So would it be any surprise at all that this is just another veiled payoff for one of Payment's top political supporters?
The second strong supporter of Aaron Payment is stepping down from the Greektown Board and will no longer serve as a board member on it. Apparently the issue surrounds some financial transaction that Bob Lapoint was involved in that could cost him his license with the MGCB. Allegedly Lapoint accepted money from some outside source that he was trying to shop Greektown Casinos to them. The factual reason why Lapoint resigned may never be known but most sources are saying it certainly revolves around some kind if financial transaction.
It certainly holds the hallmarks of the elusive "Payment Plan". It was not long ago that Payment promoted a change for requirements on the Tribal Board of Directors. Previously the Board Members would have to be able to hold a license from the MGCB. Any suspensions or loss of license would result in removal or suspension from the Board of Directors. Allowing an outside agency to have this control over the Board was a mechanism put in place to help safeguard the Tribal Membership. By having a requirement for Tribal Board Members to hold a clean license form the MGCB provided the a level of scrutiny and security the Tribe does not offer.
The MGCB puts the Tribal Board Members under the microscope and review their history for past several years as well as updated reviews of current license holders. They look for the potential fraud, illegal spending or acceptance of money. If they find something that is wrongful the MGCB has several remedies which include allowing the license holder to rectify the situation, suspension of license and termination.
According to sources Lapoint's infraction was so wrong that he decided rather then be faced with a forced termination of his license he resigned to avoid persecution. So what would Bob Lapoint have done that would eventually lead to terminating his license? The MGCB is a strict regulatory agency but they are not without some level of reasonability. They allow for a license holder to rectify the problem or give a limited suspension and fine. However, Lapoint did not want to chance it and rather resign from the Greektown Board to avoid an investigation by the MGCB.
So question is what would Bob Lapoint had done so wrong that would lead him to believe that he would lose his license? And does he really think he will get away with it just because he resigned?
Vice-Chairman Lapoint tries to play himself off as some kind of concerned elder and a "straight arrow" for the people of Sault Tribe. It is quite a different story in a case involving a driveway he built illegally by committing a form of forgery and fraud.
In 1999 Vice-Chairman Lapoint obtained property that was land locked from any road access. Apparently he tried to get some of the land owners around him to give him an easement so he could build a driveway in order to access to his land. The landowners around must had denied his request and Vice-Chairman filed a lawsuit against one of them for an easement across their property.
However, that was not good enough. He decided on April 13th 1999 to go ahead and apply for a building permit for a trunk line right of way. On this do*****ent it clearly states that the person signing the form must certify that they are legal owner of the property or owner's authorization agent. Vice-Chairman Lapoint signed this do*****ent without permission from the land owner and did not own the land itself. This constitutes a form of forgery. It is obvious he knew what he was doing since he already filed suit over building this driveway.
So what happens next?
The owner then filed a counter suit against Vice-Chairman Lapoint.
The case made it to court in 2000 and Vice-Chairman's lawsuit was dismissed while the counter claim proceeded. Vice-Chairman Lapoint lost against the counter claim and was forced to pay over $16,000 to the owner of the land he trespassed upon.
It would seem that this could have easily been a criminal offense. The Vice-Chairman did knowingly sign a legal do*****ent that was in principal a forgery. He was already in a lawsuit over the matter and instead of waiting for the court to decide. He took it upon himself to pay a contractor to build a driveway across someone's property without their permission.
There can be no doubt that Vice-Chairman Lapoint was found guilty of wrong doing in this matter. It cost him over $16,000 and a chasting from the Judge in this case calling his lawsuit frivolous.
It is unclear whether this information was given to the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) for review. As a Board Member, Lapoint would be listed as an "owner" and fall under Section 6: Casino licenses of the MGCB rules and regulations. Under this section there are some clear rules for eligibility.
432.206 Casino licenses.Sec. 6.
(4) An applicant is ineligible to receive a casino license if any of the following cir*****stances exist:
(c) The applicant has submitted an application for a license under this act that contains false information.
(h) The board concludes that the applicant lacks the requisite suitability as to integrity, moral character, and reputation; personal and business probity; financial ability and experience; responsibility; or means to develop, construct, operate, or maintain the casino proposed in the certified development agreement.
(5) In determining whether to grant a casino license to an applicant, the board shall also consider all of the following:
(i) Whether the applicant has filed, or had filed against it, a proceeding for bankruptcy or has ever been involved in any formal process to adjust, defer, suspend, or otherwise work out the payment of any debt.
(n) Whether awarding a license to an applicant would undermine the public's confidence in the Michigan gaming industry.The Michigan Gaming Control Board has the final approval over any license but it would seem by their own rules that Vice-Chairman Lapoint is unfit for a gaming license. Whether they were made aware of this information before is not known but they are today!
 The question that remains is if the Gaming Board considers allowing Vice-Chairman Lapoint to possess a license undermines the public's confidence in the Michigan gaming industry.Closer to home the Tribal Board should be asking themselves do we need a Vice-Chairman with a checkered past?
Here are the do*****ents for all to see that the comments made here are truthful. Some of the files are very large and if your on 56k it may take a few minutes to download them but it's worth the wait.
Initial lawsuit filed by Lapoint on February 4, 1999
Application for work permit signed by Lapoint on April 13 1999
Original lawsuit court hearing against the other property owner
Counter-suit against Lapoint from property owner
Court Proceedings judgment against Lapoint for attorney and other fees
Deposition of Lapoint
Deposition of witness 1
Deposition of witness 2
