Meet Out-Of-State Partners Behind Broken Arrow Casino

Public records show two of the deal makers behind the controversial Broken Arrow casino are attorneys from Miami, Florida.

Monday, January 9th 2012, 4:48 pm

By: News On 6

Meet Out-Of-State Partners Behind Broken Arrow Casino

Work continues in Broken Arrow for a new casino. The Kialegee Tribal Town is building the casino near the Creek Turnpike on 129th East Avenue, but it's come under a lot of fire.

The Kialegee Tribal Town has around 440 members and is based in the small Oklahoma town of Wetumka. But the people pulling the strings to build the casino aren't from Oklahoma and at least two of them are facing lawsuits.

The dirt continues to be plowed and the heavy machinery is still at work for what's supposed to become the Red Clay Casino. The Kialegee Tribal Town is building the casino in south Broken Arrow, but residents as well as city and state leaders have come out against it.

One question they all want answered is, who are the real wheeler and dealers moving the casino along.

Public records show the Kialegees have formed a partnership with the two women who own the land along with several attorneys and real estate developers who live out of state.

One of those is Luis Figueredo. He's an attorney in Palmetto Bay, Florida. His bio says he specializes in Indian land claims and development.

Figueredo is also being sued by the city of South Miami for professional malpractice stemming from an incident during his stint as that city's attorney. The lawsuit claims he was negligent in issuing a bond and questions whether it was tax exempt.

Another person behind the scenes is Clifford Shane Rolls. He's a real estate developer in Miami, Florida.

He's currently being sued by a South Carolina tobacco company. Rolls and several other business partners were accused of illegally taking over the company.

The complaint says Rolls and his partners scared other bidders away, and when the dust settled they owned everything.

An attorney for the tobacco company tells me Rolls may soon be dismissed from the lawsuit, but he could not say why.

I also spoke with the attorney for Clifford Shane Rolls. He said he couldn't speak of the lawsuit by the tobacco company or his client's role in the Broken Arrow casino development because he doesn't represent Mr. Rolls in those issues.

Messages left with Luis Figueredo's office and for the chief of the Kialegee Tribal Town were also not returned.