Top Pa. gaming investigator set to resign Dec. 5
David Kwait's tenure was marked by controversy over license approvals for two casino owners.
ALLENTOWN - The director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's investigative arm has announced he will resign Dec. 5.
David Kwait gave no reason, but said in a statement that leading the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement had been "challenging, exciting and difficult."
Kwait, a 30-year FBI veteran, was chief of criminal investigations for the state attorney general before becoming the gaming bureau's first director in 2005.
"David's law enforcement background helped define our strategic priorities and was essential as we built a system to not only protect the public's interests and instill integrity into Pennsylvania's new gaming industry, but to manage a tremendous volume of investigations required to move the Gaming Act from a law into reality," gaming board chairwoman Mary DiGiacomo Colins told the Morning Call of Allentown.
Kwait's time with the bureau was marked by controversy over the licensing approvals of Mount Airy Casino Resort owner Louis DeNaples and former Majestic Star owner Don Barden.
DeNaples was charged with perjury after a grand jury decided he had lied to the gaming board about his ties to organized crime. His license was suspended, and a trustee was appointed to oversee Mount Airy, which is in the Poconos.
Agents investigating Barden found he had more than $11 million in gambling debts and had reported personal tax losses of up to $7.9 million for five years.
But the board approved Barden's license to operate the Majestic Star.
Barden lost majority control of the Pittsburgh casino in July to an investment firm cofounded by Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm.