Federal regulators have directed a Louisiana casino to sever ties with a former executive who they say failed to alert auditors and potential investors about fraud allegations. The person in question is now a consultant for the casino.
The National Indian Gaming Commission ordered the Coushatta Tribal Gaming Commission to suspend the license of Todd Stewart, who was general manager of the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder. The federal agency issued the directive in a Sept. 8 letter to the tribe, according to documents the Illuminator has obtained.
Shawna Castellano, a regional director with the National Indian Gaming Commission, wrote in the letter that her agency received a complaint last year that alleged former Coushatta tribal chairman Johnathan Cernek had misused gaming revenues. Those claims were later confirmed through an accounting firm’s audit of the casino, the letter said.
