MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A federal prosecutor says an owner of a northern Mexico casino where 52 people died in an arson attack received extortion threats and didn't pay.
Jose Salinas of the Mexico Attorney General's Office says Casino Royale owner Raul Rocha Cantu received demands of $50,000, then $140,000.
Salinas told the Televisa network Thursday that he could not say how the threats were carried out or by whom.
Cantu fled to the U.S. after the Aug. 25 attack. He gave his statement to the Mexican consulate in Miami.
Cantu said he arrived at the casino in the industrial city of Monterrey as smoke poured from the windows and doors.
Armed men threw gasoline and set fire to the entrance, trapping gamblers and staff inside.
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