Florida Lt. Gov. Resigns in Massive Gambling Corruption Probe

Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling NoSlots.com Blog & Alerts     Supporters of Millennium's casino bill (SB152) claim that legalizing slot machine casinos here will suppress illegal slot machines. Even though SB152 was written almost verbatim by Millennium Gaming lobbyists, they claim that excessive gambling industry political influence and corruption will not happen in New Hampshire. Tell that to Florida's Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, who resigned yesterday in the face of a massive illegal gambling, racketeering, and money laundering conspiracy probe in which she is being questioned by law enforcement and IRS officials. Florida legalized video slot machines at race tracks in 2004, a move that has obviously failed to prevent gambling corruption and illegal slot machines. Here is this morning's Wall Street Journal story:   Florida Official Resigns in Wake of Gambling Probe Wall Street Journal March 14, 2013   Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, a Republican and the first African-American to be elected to statewide office there, abruptly resigned Tuesday night after law-enforcement officials questioned her ties to a veterans charity that prosecutors claim was a front for illegal gambling. Ms. Carroll's resignation, made public Wednesday, came as federal, Florida and local law-enforcement officials said they had executed arrest warrants for 57 people in Florida, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Ms. Carroll, who wasn't arrested, was questioned by law-enforcement officials in connection to an alleged illegal-gambling conspiracy directed by leaders of Allied Veterans of the World Inc., a nonprofit approved by the Internal Revenue Service with operations in Florida. Those arrested face multiple federal and state counts including racketeering, conspiracy, illegal gambling and money laundering. Ms. Carroll consulted for Allied Veterans of the World in 2009 and 2010 while she was a state representative and ran a public-relations company. She was Republican Gov. Rick Scott's running mate in 2010 and became lieutenant governor in January 2011-the first woman elected to the post. Ms. Carroll, 53 years old, said in a news release, "I do not believe I or my company are targets of the investigation; I could not allow my company's former affiliation with Allied Veterans to distract from the administration's important work for the families of Florida." Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to provide details about Ms. Carroll's ties to the group at a news conference. In resigning, Ms. Carroll "made the right decision for the state and her family," Mr. Scott said in a statement, adding that his staff would probe if his campaign ever received donations from the group or related companies. "I want funds from these groups to be immediately given to charity," he said. "We have zero tolerance for this kind of criminal activity." At a news conference in Orlando, officials from the U.S. Secret Service, the IRS, the Florida Attorney General's Office and other agencies alleged that Allied Veterans of the World was led by four co-conspirators: Johnny Duncan, 62, of Boiling Springs, S.C., Jerry Bass, 62, of Jacksonville, Fla., Chase Burns, 37, of Fort Cobb, Okla., and Kelly Mathis, 49, also of Jacksonville. A lawyer representing Mr. Burns, a businessman charged in connection with providing the software used by alleged illegal-gambling centers, said the allegations against his client are false. "He provided an Internet service," said Tony Burns, who is also Mr. Burns's father. "He had no control over how that was used in the state of Florida." The other defendants and their lawyers couldn't be reached for comment. Allied Veterans couldn't be reached; the group's main phone number has been disconnected. The group's last public filing to the IRS states its total revenue for 2009 was $57,714. Law-enforcement officials, however, allege the group "ran gambling centers and illegal slot machines, funneling the illegal proceeds through a sophisticated web of for-profit corporations that paid off" the chief conspirators. Over a four-year period, the gambling operation allegedly brought in about $300 million, and donated less than 2% of that revenue to charity, while the four main co-conspirators took in more than $90 million, law-enforcement officials said in a statement. In addition to multiple arrests, officers also seized property, gambling machines, vehicles, computers and bank accounts. Mr. Scott's choice of Ms. Carroll, an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago, as running mate in 2010 was seen as an opportunity to attract minority voters to the Republican Party. Instead, she has become a liability, according to Aubrey Jewett, a political-science professor at the University of Central Florida. "It doesn't help the governor in the short run," Mr. Jewett said. "It was his pick and even if he's in no way implicated it would be one more decision that people might question." Phone Your Legislators (click link) Ask Them To Oppose SB152 Including casino licensing revenues in the state budget is a recipe for budget chaos and broken promises, due to the 2 year minimum delay required to adopt regulations, select among competing casino bidders, complete background checks, secure local permits, and conclude litigation. The recklessly rushed licensing and regulatory process in SB152 designed to get $80 million in one-time and highly uncertain casino license money into the budget will result in irreversible mistakes and, potentially, corruption. New Hampshire's gambling regulators are far from ready to handle casinos. The New Hampshire state auditor found in 2005 that the Pari-Mutuel Commission (now, the Racing & Charitable Gaming Commission) was stained by a multi-year pattern of self-dealing, evasion of legislative budget authority and sloppy recordkeeping (audit summary, full report). In 2005, the NH PMC failed to detect a $200 million, multi-year Gambino crime family illegal gambling and money-laundering operation at the former Lakes Region Greyhound track. Again, in 2009, the Racing & Charitable Gaming Commission failed to prevent the bankrupt owners of the Hinsdale track from taking money from customer gambling accounts. For those looking for state budget alternatives to casino license money (and there are multiple alternatives), serious debate will not begin until SB152 is soundly defeated on the House floor. The New England casino market is saturated, limiting NH to local-market convenience casinos and slots barns which will not attract promised out-of-state gambling dollars. Casinos would unfairly cannibalize jobs and consumer spending from thousands of existing New Hampshire businesses and nonprofits, which are often integral parts of our local communities. A single Salem casino would create 10,000 new gambling addicts and cause 1,200 additional serious and violent crimes per year, according to the Governor's Gaming Study Commission. Only 10 percent of gambling addicts use available addiction treatment programs. Slot machine casinos would wipe out charity gaming. If even one is legalized, there is no viable means to stop casinos and tacky slots parlors from proliferating throughout the state. Thank you, Jim Rubens, Chair Donate To GSCAEG 30 Reasons To Oppose Slot Casinos