The baffling tale of the Plainrdige 'raffle' tickets continues
unresolved it seems.
Below is the email sent to the Gambling Commission and above
it the circulated emails from others.
Rumor has it that the FBI is investigating this matter and
the whole 'raffle' is baffling.
They 'raffle' off wagers on the Kentucky Derby ????
Is that what they're doing? Has anyone heard of anything so screwy?
It also seems that 2 of the beneficiaries are in another
state.
This has been conducted for 14 years and no one questioned??
And it seemed that no non-profit had a permit for some of those
years.
And of course, the Massachusetts Treasurer never handled the $$$$
or collected his 5%.
This would seem this might jeopardize
Plainridge's Slot Barn license bid.
Date:
7 June 2012
11:36:32 EDT
Subject:
FW: the
"Plainridge Raffle" at Plainridge
Racecourse
Your
report has been forwarded to the Public Charities Division of the Attorney
General’s office. Thank you for your continuing interest.
Steve
Crosby
From: Nosal, Jed (AGO)
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 12:36
PM
To: McHugh,
James (MGC)
Cc:
Stark, Jennifer (AGO);
'mary.beckman@state.ma.us'
Subject: Re: the "Plainridge Raffle" at
Plainridge Racecourse
Judge
- thanks for sending this along. To the extent its helpful to you or the
Commission, please feel free to let the constituent know that it’s been referred
to the AG's Public Charities Division.
-JMN
JMN
From: McHugh, James
(MGC)
Sent:
Wednesday, June 06, 2012 10:45 AM
To: Nosal, Jed (AGO)
Cc: Stark, Jennifer
(AGO)
Subject:
FW: the "Plainridge Raffle" at Plainridge Racecourse
Jed,
For
such use, if any, as you see fit, I am enclosing another email we received on
the subject of Plainridge Race Track raffle tickets. The author is the same as
the author of the email I forwarded to you on April 18 and the email involves
the same issue.
Regards,
Jim
McHugh
James F.
McHugh
Commissioner
Massachusetts
Gaming Commission
84
State Street, Suite 720
Boston,
MA 02109
TEL
(617) 979-8407
FAX
(617) 725-0258
Massachusetts Gaming
Commission
84 State Street, Suite
720
Since you have recently taken on the
task of overseeing the Massachusetts horse-racing industry, as well as your
statutory responsibilities “establishing the
financial stability and integrity of gaming licensees, as well as the integrity
of their sources of financing”, I would like to express my concerns about
Plainridge Racecourse and a yearly “charitable” raffle offered by them since
1999, ostensibly to benefit non-profits, both locally and out-of-state. My
concerns are the following:
1. Below is a photograph of the
ticket for this year’s raffle, sold by the participating non-profits (I don’t
know if tickets were available from Plainridge directly). There is nothing on
the reverse of the ticket. No other organization’s name or information appears
except that of Plainridge Racecourse.
2. Plainville Racecourse does not
hold a raffle permit with the town of Plainville (nor could it, if I understand
Mass. General Laws: CHAPTER 271, Section 7A). When I asked our town clerk, Ellen
Robertson, if Plainridge had a raffle permit in Plainville, she said that they
did not, and told me that they would not qualify for one, in any
case.
3. Upon inquiring about the
legality of the raffle, I was told that the raffle was held under the raffle
permits of the beneficiary non-profits. Again, as I understand the Massachusetts
General Laws, this is not legal. Moreover, more than one article I’ve read about
the raffle says that it was “conducted by Plainridge”.
In any case, at least one of the
those non-profits, the Plainville Athletic League (PAL), did not hold a raffle
permit from 2009 until April 23rd, 2012, but participated in the so-called
Plainridge Raffle during those years anyway (as well as holding several others).
They did not hold a permit when they charged for and distributed the raffle
tickets to PAL participants this year. They only applied for and received a
permit after they were questioned by Plainville residents about the legality of
the raffle.
Other beneficiaries of the raffle
are not even registered non-profits within Massachusetts:
4. I first learned of the raffle
when parents of PAL participants called to tell me that their children’s PAL
registration packets had ten raffle tickets (above) stapled to each packet.
Under the "Fees" section of the PAL
website, it reads: "Registration fees for 2012 include the ability to play,
playing shirts and $10 in Plainridge raffle tickets."
This is what board member and
fundraising coordinator of PAL, Bryan Weddleton, wrote on the NoPlainvilleRacino
Facebook page about the raffle:
“I am also a board member at the
PAL, the fund raising coordinator. The plainridge [sic] raffle is a fundraiser
were [sic] the $10 in tickets is rolled into the registration fees. It is then
up to the parents to either sell the tickets to get the money back or put their
name on the tickets. Plainridge sees nothing of the money, it all goes to the
PAL were [sic] the board allocates the funds towards the facility and upgrades
to help make the 400 kids of the PAL have a better baseball/softball experience.
Please email me directly with any further questions. My email can be found on
the PAL website. Www.palonline.org”
When some parents said they did not
want to participate in what amounted to mandatory gambling, and asked for their
$10 back, saying they would write a check, free and clear, for an extra $10 for
their children, PAL refused to refund their money or buy back the
tickets.
Two of the fathers who called me
were quite distraught because they are each recovering gambling addicts. Imagine
how they felt when raffle tickets for wagers on a horse race came into their
homes, unsolicited and without their permission.
5. The language about "wagers" is
particularly troubling. If Plainridge can't take wagers outside their four
walls, how is it that they can sell or “redeem” chances on wagers?
6. There is absolutely nothing on
the tickets (or in the instructions from PAL) that indicates a minimum age to
"play"; instructions about who is allowed to peddle, promote, or sell the
tickets; how old one must be to “play” and/or wager; to what purposes the money
goes; what organizations benefit from the raffle; who makes the wagers; who
decides on what horses to wager; how the “wagers” are made and with what money,
etc. What you see on the ticket is the only information
provided.
7. Because the raffle laws in
Massachusetts seem pretty clear cut, it seems to me that Plainridge is in
violation of the law. I called the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office in
April to ask for clarification about the law, and, based on what little
information I had at the time, they started an investigation. As far as I know,
that investigation is ongoing. The investigator at the AG’s office with whom I
spoke is Dan Ferullo.
8. At the Plainville Board of
Selectmen’s meeting on April 22nd, the response of Chair Andrea Soucy to hearing
about the Attorney General’s investigation was to invite Steve O’Toole (General
Manager of Plainridge) to speak about how wonderful the raffle is and about “all
that Plainridge has done for Plainville.”
In light of this violation of Open
Meeting Law (neither Mr. O’Toole nor the subject of the raffle was on the
agenda), as well as other cases of preferential treatment given to Plainridge by
the Board of Selectmen (lobbying in Boston in 2010 for slot parlors to be added
to the gambling bill without asking Plainville voters what we wanted, for
instance:
9. During at least one of the
raffles, a horse owned by one of the owners of Plainridge Racecourse was running
in the race (the Kentucky Derby) on which these “charitable wagers” were being
made.
10. Finally, while it might be true
that Plainridge sees nothing of the raffle money, directly, they are currently
in a PR battle for the hearts and minds (and votes!) of the people of
Plainville, so I believe they do receive considerable "benefit" from the raffles
in the form of goodwill. Plainridge even had a table at the opening day of PAL,
with information about harness racing, gambling, and the slot barn that they’re
poised to propose. Is that appropriate material to have around children, at a
children’s event? With gambling addiction on the rise for teens, having
Plainridge as a “guest” at the PAL opening day — even to have Plainridge as a
sponsor of a children’s team — seems dangerously close to recruitment of new
gamblers. Would PAL allow an alcohol or tobacco company to sponsor a team and to
peddle their wares at an event for children?
I would not necessarily expect PAL
to know about all the intricacies and nuances of the raffle laws; but Plainridge
has plenty of legal expertise at its
disposal. (As a matter of fact, they had their attorneys write a cease and
desist letter and threaten a private citizen with a lawsuit for having started
an anti-racino Facebook page on which a stranger had posted something that
Plainridge disliked.) I hope Plainridge did not lead PAL or other non-profits
into a situation where they have endangered their non-profit
status.
I hope you will take this issue
seriously, as I believe the laws regarding raffles are a serious matter,
intended to be adhered to and enforced, especially when we are dealing with a
pari-mutuel gambling establishment that’s looking to expand its facility and
entice citizens to "play to extinction"
in their slot
barn.
cc: Plainville Board of
Selectmen
State Senator Richard
Ross
State Representative Dan
Winslow
Pickles, indeed!
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