•

initiative which brought casino gam-
ing to Detroit.
* Alan A. May — Southfield pro-
bate attorney and vice president of
he last time the century
Temple Beth El.
turned, the automobile
* Gabriel Werba — partner in the
industry's soon-to-be mil-
lionaires were the talk of
Detroit-based Durocher, Dixson,
Detroit.
Werba LLC public relations
By the year 2000, Detroit
firm, and original board mem-
An artist's
may be home to a new breed
ber
of Atwater Entertainment
rendering of
of millionaires — the investors
-
the proposed Associates.
* William Liberson--
who took a chance on Detroit's
Atwater/
Circus Circus Southfield lawyer, former presi
three new casinos.
cas ino.
How big will their gamble
dent of Congregation Beth
Achim:-
pay off? In documents filed -
* Stephen J. Bock — law
with the city, each casino is projecting
partner of Liberson.
first-year gross revenues of $400-525
* Paul Finkel — Southfield-based
million. Even if those projections are
real estate developer.
on the high end, that kind of return
* Charles Grenadier — Birming2-
could make even small investors rich.
At least seven of the investors in the ham shopping center developer.
Atwater/Circus Circus Casino Group
City documents show no Jews in
are Jewish. They include:
either key ownership or investor roles
at the other two casinos:
* Laurence B. Deitch — Southfield
lawyer, former president of Temple
The Greektown Casino LLC is a
Beth El :eneral
joint venture between a group of
.e . eral counsel of the Atwa-
American-Greek businessmen headed
ter group, and author of
by Ted Gatzaros and Dimitrios "Jim"
ro osal E, the ballot
Papas, and the Sault Ste. Marie tribe
of Chippewa Indians operating as
Kewadin Greektown Casino LLC.
The third casino is MGM Grand
ettoit_LLC; Its officers are
eiVitirienidjian, John Red-
mond and Scott Langsner.
Financier Kirk Kerkorian,
t V'tk,1141,'A

ALAN ABRAMS
Special to The Jewish News

T

mftk,„„

who once made a takeover bid for
Chrysler Corporation, heads the
MGM operation.
Several Jews were among the
investors in Paradaise Valley LLC, the
predominantly African-American
group that included former Detroit
Mayor Coleman Young. Paradise Val-
ley was denied a Detroit casino
license. The group included Mayer
Morganroth, Jeffrey B. Morganroth
and Roger E. Winkelman. The Mor-
gaproths are partners in the law firm
which served as counsel for
Paradise Val-
tey.
_ $
And across
the Detroit River,
Jews have key posi-
tions at Casino
Windsor. One of thee
most important is
Director of Table
Games Operations
Rhonda Cohen.
One of the cask
no's main
supervisors,
Tel Aviv-born
Betzalel Folk, is
president of
Windsor's Ortho-
dox Shaar
Hashomayim congre-
gation.
Back on the

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2/27
1998

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