MGM Mirage:
Monitoring Indictment Case
MGM Mirage officials on Thursday
praised a longtime board member who has been
indicted by a federal grand jury but said they
were monitoring the situation.
The
second-largest casino operator released a brief
statement on prominent Beverly Hills attorney
Terry Christensen the day after he was charged
with one count of conspiracy and one count of
intercepting wire communications.
Christensen
has been a personal attorney and adviser to
billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, MGM Mirage's largest
shareholder, for 35 years.
"Terry
Christensen has for almost 20 years served our
company with distinction. We are reviewing the
situation," said the company statement,
which referred media to Christensen's Los Angeles
law firm for additional information.
Christensen,
65, who has been a member of Las Vegas-based
MGM Mirage's board of directors since Aug. 1,
1987, could face up to 10 years in federal prison
if convicted of the two charges.
Prosecutors
allege that Christensen conspired with private
investigator Anthony Pellicano to wiretap the
phones of Kerkorian's former wife, Lisa Bonder
Kerkorian, who was involved in a court battle
against an unidentified Christensen client.
Christensen
allegedly paid Pellicano at least $100,000 for
the illegal wiretap, court documents show.
Federal
prosecutors also revealed that they had obtained
taped conversations between Pellicano and clients
who hired him to dig up dirt on their rivals.
Pellicano,
who has worked for some of the biggest names
in the entertainment industry, was charged this
month with wiretapping people he was investigating.
Prosecutors
said he taped conversations with clients.
"What
they have here is dynamite," said Laurie
Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor
at Loyola Law School. "This is very important
evidence because you don't have the question
of credibility. Tapes don't lie."
Kerkorian
issued a one-sentence statement Wednesday through
Tracinda Corp., his wholly owned company: "Terry
Christensen is a paragon of integrity who has
always done the right thing throughout the 35
years I have had the privilege of knowing him."
Nevada
gaming regulators said they were following the
matter but weren't planning to take any action
because state gaming regulations don't require
a board member who is charged with a crime to
be removed from that office.
"Because
it's a criminal matter, we'll follow the situation
closely," control board Chairman Dennis
Neilander said Wednesday. "At this point,
he's not been found guilty of anything, but
it is a matter we'll watch."
The
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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