<p>The Illinois Gaming Board served Bally’s Corp with a work stoppage order on Thursday for its $1.7 billion permanent Chicago casino after the company was found to be using an unapproved contractor at the site with previous ties to organised crime.</p>
<p>Reporters from the <a href=”https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/05/01/ballys-casino-license-illinois-gaming-board-reputed-mob-rosemont-difronzo” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Chicago Sun-Times</a> notified the IGB that dumpsters from D&P Construction were seen on the Bally’s site. D&P was previously tied to John and Peter DiFronzo, two men believed to be heavily connected to the Chicago mob. Both have now passed away, although Peter’s widow was for years listed as an owner of the company but is no longer, per the Sun-Times.</p>
<p>As a result, the IGB subsequently halted construction and released the following statement: </p>
<p>“The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) issued an order to cease construction work on the Bally’s Chicago permanent casino in connection with a pending IGB investigation into the use of undisclosed and unapproved vendors at the construction site…. IGB staff learned earlier this week that D&P is providing or provided waste removal services at the permanent casino construction site. However, D&P was not disclosed to the IGB and the IGB did not approve D&P.”</p>
<p>This discovery “raises several serious concerns”, the board said, and the matter is now under investigation.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter”><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-width=”550″ data-dnt=”true”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>JUST IN: D&P Construction Co., Inc., is providing dumpsters for the Bally’s work site, the Chicago Sun-Times discovered. Two decades ago, the company’s involvement in the construction of a casino led to concerns by regulators of organized crime influence.<a href=”https://t.co/xitWm57Bx1″>https://t.co/xitWm57Bx1</a></p>— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Suntimes/status/1918089366494171264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 1, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-no-margin-for-error”>No margin for error</h2>
<p>In response, Bally’s said it was “informed by IGB that the contractors working on the Bally’s Chicago site were utilising an unapproved vendor and were issued a stop work notice.” The company said this “is the process at work” and asserted it was “working with the IGB to eliminate the possibility of it happening again”.</p>
<p>Spokeswoman Lauren Westerfield also told the Sun-Times that the company is drawing up a new plan for how subcontractors are vetted. Work can resume once the IGB approves the plan, but not before then. </p>
<p>Should the investigation evolve into a significant work stoppage, it could pose serious challenges for Bally’s. Under state law the casino is required to be up and running by September 2026. Even without the stoppage, that timeline was already tight for a project that is still in early stages. </p>
<p>This investigation is the latest hiccup for the project, which has been multiple years in the making. Other hindrances included a substantial redesign after initial plans were denied due to interference with city water lines as well as a significant funding gap, which was eventually filled through a <a href=”https://igamingbusiness.com/casino/ballys-new-chicago-casino/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>$940 million deal with Gaming and Leisure Properties</a>. The project was also halted for about three weeks in December and January after debris spilled into the nearby Chicago River.</p>
<p>Since September 2023 Bally’s has operated a temporary casino in the city, which has generated $29 million in revenue this year. The casino has contributed $3 million in city tax revenue in that span, which puts it behind the $16.5 million projection from the city’s budget for 2025.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-d-amp-p-involved-in-rosemont-scandal”>D&P involved in Rosemont scandal </h2>
<p>The contracting violation and work stoppage may have looked different if it were not D&P involved. But the IGB has history with the company, as D&P was also tied to a previous casino scandal.</p>
<p>In 2001, as developers were attempting to build the Emerald Casino in the village of Rosemont, the IGB said in a complaint that the “owner of D&P, Josephine DiFronzo, is married to Peter DiFronzo and is the sister-in-law of John DiFronzo, individuals who have been identified as known members of organised crime. Emerald’s failure to exercise appropriate supervision resulted in work being performed at the site by D&P.â€</p>
<p>A 2005 memo from the FBI said D&P “obtained contracts through illegal payoffs or intimidation”, per the Sun-Times. The Rosemont licence was eventually revoked and given to neighbouring Des Plaines, which is where Rivers Casino now operates. Chicago was not in the running for a licence at that time.</p>
<p>Rivers has long been the best-performing casino in the state, posting more than $2 billion in revenue over the last five years. </p>
