Parx Owners Bet on Maryland Casino

In an eight-page decision released Thursday, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission gave the owners of Bensalem-based Parx Casino the ok to continue pursuing construction of an $800 million casino south of Washington.

Maryland Casino, LLC, a subsidiary of Greenwood Racing, which owns Parx–where 3,300 slot machines and 107 table games were housed as of December 2012–was deemed to be "qualified" to open a casino in Prince George's County, Md., according to the written decision.

The company is facing competition for the license from Penn National Gaming Inc. and MGM Resorts International, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Besides other would-be casino operators who could potentially bump the company from entering the Maryland casino scene, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission stressed the need for Greenwood Racing co-founder Robert Green to cut all ties with Robert Brennan, who had previously owned Philadelphia Park Racetrack.

In the 1980s Brennan was said to be the ringleader for a penny stock brokerage firm, which, according to the decision, "specialized in promoting 'pump and dump' penny stocks to unsuspecting investors."

Brennan had a $71.5 million civil judgment issued against him for violating federal securities laws. In 2001, Brennan was convicted in federal court on money laundering and related offenses and sentenced to 110 months of incarceration.

"No information surfaced that would suggest that Mr. Green’s business transactions with Mr. Brennan were improper or that Mr. Green does not possess the requisite integrity, honesty and good character as required by Maryland gaming law," the decision reads. "However, staff recommends that a condition of Mr. Green’s qualification would be that Mr. Green is required to refrain from any personal or business contact with Mr. Brennan."

According to the decision, Parx Casino owners have the "financial resources" to move forward. 

"We conclude that the applicant, and its principal entities and principals, have established by clear and convincing evidence their qualifications for an operation license," according to the report. 

It was not immediately clear when the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission would decide which of the interested parties would receive the final go-ahead for an operation license.