Thursday, July 21, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.
CHICAGO -- A chief investor in the bankrupt Emerald Casino denied Wednesday that he lied to Illinois Gaming Board investigators, refuting one of the main reasons the board wants to revoke the casino's license.
Kevin Flynn testified during a hearing in which the state is seeking to revoke the casino's license partly because it claims Flynn and his father, Donald, lied to the board. The board also claims some investors in Emerald had ties to organized crime.
Flynn said he had no management role in Emerald Casino until he became chairman and chief executive officer of the company in June 1999.
But attorneys for the Gaming Board asked Flynn if he had acted on Emerald's behalf as early as 1996, which Flynn denied.
They also asked Flynn about four instances in which Flynn attended or participated in Emerald board meetings prior to being named chairman and CEO. They produced documents that said Flynn previously told Gaming Board investigators he attended the meetings because they coincided with board meetings for an Indiana casino in which he was a main investor.
Flynn conceded Wednesday that only one of the four Emerald board meetings overlapped for the two casinos.
"I think I misspoke," he said of his previous statements.
Flynn said he attended Emerald's board meetings because he was interested as a proposed shareholder in the casino and because he oversaw his father's financial affairs. If his father was unable to attend a meeting, Flynn said he would report to his father about developments.
"I was there because I was curious," he said.
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