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EXHIBIT 99.1
TUESDAY AUGUST 29, 8:24 PM EASTERN TIME
PRESS RELEASE
SOURCE: STATION CASINOS, INC.
STATION CASINOS TO BOYCOTT MISSOURI GAMING COMMISSION HEARING
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Station Casinos, Inc. (NYSE: STN - NEWS)
today notified the Missouri Gaming Commission ("MGC") that it will boycott a
public hearing scheduled for tomorrow (Aug. 30). Seven Station executives and
one executive secretary were requested by the MGC to appear in Kansas City, Mo.,
purportedly in conjunction with an investigation of Michael Lazaroff, an
attorney formerly with the law firm of Thompson Coburn, which represented
Station in Missouri.
In a memorandum notifying the MGC of its decision, Station asserts that the MGC
lacks the authority to require it to appear at a public hearing, and that such a
hearing fails to afford Station its fundamental due process rights. The
memorandum also states that MGC staff already has the information it needs, and
that the staff knew nearly four years ago of bonus payments to Lazaroff.
"Station Casinos has a long tradition of complying with regulatory bodies in the
jurisdictions where it operates, but we also have a tradition of protecting our
shareholder interests," said Charles W. German, a Station attorney with Rouse
Hendricks German May of Kansas City. "For us to participate in this proceeding
would place our executives in a position of debating the truth with a convicted
felon and liar -- a man who cheated Station Casinos, his law partners, other
clients and the Federal Election Commission."
In June, Lazaroff pled guilty to three felony counts in federal court involving
almost $1 million in fraud against his law partners, his clients and the Federal
Election Commission. Lazaroff is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 3 in Federal
District Court in St. Louis. As part of his guilty plea, Lazaroff has agreed to
cooperate with the MGC in an effort to shorten his sentence. He faces up to 33
months in prison.
"Station never hid the fact that it paid bonuses to Lazaroff," German said. "The
United States Attorney's Office in St. Louis has stipulated and the MGC staff
has confirmed that the entirety of the bonus payments were used for Lazaroff's
personal purposes, and that not one penny went to any public official or was
used for anything improper."
"Michael Lazaroff is an admitted and repeated liar," German added. "He now has
every motive to lie in an effort to reduce his sentence. We simply won't be a
party to that kind of proceeding."
In a letter to MGC Chairman C. E. Fisher delivered this morning, German
requested the opportunity to speak at tomorrow's hearing.
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"We would like the opportunity to point out to the Commissioners themselves that
their staff, in violation of the body's own rules and Missouri's laws, has
staged a hearing that deprives Station of its basic rights to provide
information, shed light on the testimony being debated, ask questions of
Lazaroff or other witnesses, and defend against scurrilous accusations of a
convicted felon desperate to stay out of prison," said German. "The Company has
already provided thousands of pages of documents, including confidential and
privileged information. We have submitted to interviews and sworn, videotaped
depositions. Yet we are not afforded common, constitutional protections and
practices under the law."
At least seven of the eight Station representatives are not expected to attend
the hearing, German said. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Fertitta
III; Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Glenn C. Christenson;
Executive Vice President/General Counsel Scott M. Nielson; Vice President of
Regulatory Compliance John Pasqualotto; Vice President/Associate General Counsel
Richard Haskins; Vice President/Finance William Warner; and Executive Secretary
Marnie Hinrichs will not appear. Missouri-based General Counsel of Midwest
Operations Troy Stremming has said he is still considering the request to
appear.
"The Company will not compel any of its officers or employees to testify,
because this hearing is not being conducted fairly, in accordance with Missouri
law, or with the Commission's own regulations," German said. "Station supports
the decisions of all these individuals."
A copy of Station's memorandum and related information can be found on the Web
at www.stationcasinos.com.
Station Casinos, Inc. is a multi-jurisdictional gaming company headquartered
in Las Vegas, where it owns and operates Palace Station Hotel & Casino,
Boulder Station Hotel & Casino, Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel, the Wild
Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel, Sunset Station Hotel & Casino in Henderson,
Nev., as well as slot route management services in Clark County, Nev. The
Company also owns and operates Station Casino Kansas City, a gaming and
entertainment facility in Kansas City, Mo., and Station Casino St. Charles, a
gaming and entertainment facility in St. Charles, Mo., near St. Louis.
This press release may be deemed to contain certain forward-looking statements
with respect to the business, financial condition, results of operations of the
Company which involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to,
licensing and other regulatory risks. In particular, if the ongoing
investigations related to Lazaroff were to implicate the Company or its senior
executives in any wrongdoing, this could lead to further proceedings against the
Company or its executives, which could result in fines and other penalties being
imposed on them, restrict their ability to hold gaming licenses or otherwise
materially adversely affect the Company's business, financial condition and
results of operations. Further information on potential factors which could
affect the business, financial condition and results of operations of the
Company, are included in the filings of the Company with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to the Company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Registration
Statement on Form S-4 File No. 333-71227.
