Former lawmaker Veon called to give deposition

A former Beaver County lawmaker caught up in the “Bonusgate” investigation of corruption in the state Legislature has failed to comply with a subpoena to depose him in a federal civil case, according to a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

Mike Veon, a onetime representative who served five years in prison on corruption charges before the state State Supreme Court vacated his conviction in November 2016, could end up in front of a judge again after the defendant in the case filed a motion Thursday to hold him in contempt of court.

The motion claims that Mr. Veon, who is now a lobbyist, last month ignored a subpoena to give a deposition.

Mr. Veon could not be reached for comment Friday.

FTI Consulting, a trustee of Centaur Inc., filed a federal lawsuit against Merit Management, alleging two counts of “avoidance of fraudulent transfer.”

In 2005, both parties were vying for a harness track license from the state to open a racetrack. Indiana-based Centaur planned to open a track called Valley View Downs in Beaver County and Merit was an equity partner for a developer who wanted to open a track called Bedford Downs in Lawrence County.

When the state denied both applications, Valley View Downs purchased Bedford Downs for $55 million — about $16 million of which went to Merit — in an effort to eliminate the competition and secure the harness track license, a move the developer believed would make it more likely to later secure a gaming license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the motion states.

But Valley View Downs’ request for a gaming license also was denied in 2008, and it filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

In the lawsuit, FTI Consulting argues that Valley View Downs’ buyout of Bedford Downs and the payment to Merit Management was fraudulent because Valley View Downs was “insolvent at the time of the acquisition and significantly overpaid for Bedford Downs to the detriment of its creditors,” according to court documents.

FTI further argues that Mr. Veon’s “affiliation” with Bedford Downs, and therefore Valley View Downs, influenced the denial of Valley View Downs’ gaming license.

The nature of that affiliation was not clear from the filing.

“To better understand the political climate,” Merit issued a subpoena to Mr. Veon to give a deposition on June 27, according to the motion Merit filed this week, but Mr. Veon did not show.