CG Technology in trouble with the Nevada regulator

The Las Vegas-based sportsbook operator CG Technology, which operates sportsbooks at the Cosmopolitan, Venetian, Palms and M Resort, has been fined $1.5 million in a settlement with the Nevada Gaming Control Board which includes the resignation of veteran CEO Lee Amaitis.

Reporting on the issue, ESPN records that the NGCB filed a complaint in May this year alleging CG Technology failed to fix “systemic problems” with the company’s computerised bookmaking system, which resulted in “thousands of CGT patrons being incorrectly paid on winning wagers” from August 2011 to March 2015.

The complaint alleged CG Technology underpaid punters on parlays and round-robin bets by approximately $700,000.

The settlement notes that CGT has taken steps to make underpaid punters whole and has addressed the software error in its systems. The company denied that it “had any intent to profit from the errors that resulted in the miscalculated payments.”

A number of conditions attach to the settlement, which requires CG Technology to:

* Set aside $25,000 in an escrow account to pay any remaining claims of underpayment that can be established during a six-month period. Any remaining portion of the $25,000 will be donated to the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling;

* Advertise the notice of inaccurate payments for two seven-day periods in a daily newspaper published in Clark County, Nevada;

* Engage an independent third party to oversee CG Technology’s gaming software for a period of one year after the Nevada Gaming Commission accepts the settlement.

In a statement to the local Las Vegas Sun newspaper, NGCB chairman A.G. Burnett said:

“The Board will not tolerate improper or incorrect payments to patrons by gaming licensees, and therefore takes this matter extremely seriously. This settlement contains several harsh punishments and requirements for remediation that reflect those concerns.”

Amaitis has resigned effective Aug. 31, 2016, according to the settlement. ESPN notes that Amaitis, a former executive with Cantor Fitzgerald, has been a controversial figure since arriving in Las Vegas in 2008.

He came under scrutiny after a vice president in charge of the sportsbook operations was indicted in 2012 and pleaded guilty to federal charges that he knowingly accepted wagers from an illegal sports betting ring that made an estimated $34 million in bets with then Cantor Gaming (see previous reports).

Back then, the company paid a $5.5 million fine and in 2014 embarked on a rebranding initiative, changing its title to CG Technology.

The company has yet to advise on who will replace Amaitis.