Borgata Casino was fined by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for exaggerating its online casino promotional credit line by over $4.5 million.
The DGE explained that erroneous reporting from October 2023 to May 2024 exaggerated the operator's igaming promotional credits by $4,564,515, resulting in underpaid total revenue taxes.
According to the Garden State regulatory body, Borgata underpaid $365,161 in total revenue taxes in its June 2024 tax filing. The BetMGM partner has agreed to pay a $75,000 fine.
DGE Acting Director Mary Jo Flaherty sent a letter to Borgata Senior Vice President and Legal Counsel Patrick Madamba, indicating that the regulatory body found errors in the BetMGM igaming platform reports submitted by Borgata from October 2023 to May 2024.
Flaherty noted that this was the second time in 18 months that Borgata had underpaid taxes in New Jersey. In March 2023, the casino operator was found to have exaggerated its igaming promotional credits by nearly $10 million, resulting in more than $787,000 in underpaid taxes.
"The department takes this matter very seriously," Flaherty said. "The initial violation involved underreporting nearly $10 million in total revenue. The second underreporting involved more than $4.5 million. These underreportings led to assessments of over $1.3 million in additional taxes, tax penalties, and interest.
"The fact that this behavior occurred again less than 18 months after the department warned that such illegal actions could lead to civil penalties should also be considered."
However, Flaherty did note that both cases of underpayment were quickly resolved, but he emphasized that claiming promotional game credits exceeding the amount of bonuses issued "clearly violates" the law.
