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Crosby pushed Wynn to remain in Mass. casino licensing process, suit says

EVERETT, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – An amended complaint in the legal battle between Caesars Entertainment and state Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby says that Crosby called Stephen Wynn during the casino licensing process and suggested that he stay in the running, according to the Boston Herald. Crosby is being scrutinized for his connection to an owner of the Everett land on which Wynn wants to build a casino.

The complaint says that Wynn was not happy at an October hearing given that the commission questioned his Macao operations and says that Wynn considered withdrawing his application, the Herald reported.

"(N)otwithstanding his statutory role as the unbiased overseer of the Massachusetts gaming license application process, Crosby, in the company of another Commissioner, took it upon himself to place a call to Wynn and to ask Wynn to remain in the Massachusetts licensing process," the complaint reads.

The complaint added head of the commission's investigations bureau Karen Wells as a co-defendant to the lawsuit. She oversaw the suitability review of Caesars when it was trying to open a casino at Suffolk Downs, which Wynn was also trying to do. The commission flagged Caesars debt load and purported connections to Russian organized crime causing the proposal to fall apart.

Crosby pulled out of the vote on the land deal for Wynn's casino because one of the site's owners, Paul Lohnes, was a friend and ex-business partner.

For more on this story: bostonherald.com.