[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/j...4dPNsnkW4XAqJN

Jay-Z stake in Aqueduct slots deal draws scrutiny

By FREDRIC U. DICKER in Albany and ANNIE KARNI in New York City
February 21, 2010

Gov. Paterson has 99 problems -- and Jay-Z might be one of them.

The governor's friendship with the hip-hop impresario is raising questions because of the latter's involvement with AEG, the consortium controversially selected to run a multibillion-dollar racino at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Paterson's bond with the man born Shawn Carter was growing at the same time that Jay-Z was being courted to join the Aqueduct Entertainment Group.

Last Aug. 31, Jay-Z and his wife, Beyoncé, shared a podium with Paterson to announce that Jay-Z would stage a 9/11 benefit concert at Madison Square Garden.

In early September, AEG Chairman Richard Mays approached Jay-Z through his business partners and asked whether he would be interested in joining the consortium -- which at the time ranked last among six bidders seeking the lucrative project.

Within days, Jay-Z had agreed to take a 7 percent stake in AEG through one of his companies, Gain Global Investments Network LLC.

Jay-Z, 40, had long been interested in the project, sources said. In spring 2009, he'd begun talking with casino mogul Steve Wynn about joining Wynn's bid to operate the racino.

No deal was hammered out, and Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Limited, frustrated by the long review process and its murky rules, eventually bowed out.

"Paterson directly told Wynn he needed to have a minority partner, so he went and got Jay-Z. But when Wynn pulled out, Jay-Z was without a home," a source told The Post. "AEG went and grabbed Jay-Z after his deal with Steve Wynn fell through."

AEG jumped at the chance to recruit Jay-Z, who has become increasingly close to Paterson, sources said. The two dined together in June and hung out in the Hamptons.

After attending the 9/11 concert at Madison Square Garden as Jay-Z's guest, Paterson wrote to MTV: "I can personally attest to his commitment to New York and the impact he has on New Yorkers of all ages. He is most definitely deserving of the top-MC-of-2009 title."

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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...uct_probe.html

Beating a dead horse: Gov. Paterson insists feds won't 'find anything' in Aqueduct racino probe



BY Kenneth Lovett
February 19th 2010

An emboldened Gov. Paterson predicted the feds will be wasting their time poking into the controversial Aqueduct racino deal.

"I don't think [they're] going to find anything," Paterson told WOR-AM's John Gambling Thursday.

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan is digging into the chaotic process that led to the selection of a politically connected group to run the slots parlor.

State Inspector General Joseph Fisch also is investigating the deal.