The largest such forfeitures came from Resorts, which turned over more than $51,000 for incidents dating back as far as 2020. The forfeitures were ordered by the state during the last two weeks of October, but details were not released until Tuesday. Other cases involved money won by people who had placed themselves on New Jersey’s casino self-exclusion list, under which casinos are supposed to make sure they don’t gamble, but then gambled anyway.
That time period, at least six months, has now expired and the gamblers are considered to be prohibited patrons, according to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s proposed 1 billion First Light Casino project in Taunton, stalled since 2016 amid legal challenges, got a major boost in December when the U.S.
The casinos then withheld the patrons’ winnings, placing them in an escrow account to give them time to prove they had gambled legally. Most of the cases involved patrons who were either asked to provide identification when claiming a manual payout from slot machines or other games, and were either found to be underage or to have produced inadequate identification.
The forfeited money will go to the state to be used for programs to treat compulsive gambling, as well as on programs benefiting senior citizens and those with disabilities.
