Massachusetts: Answer the Question!

Mr. Paulson asked a simple question really:

Neil Paulson, a life long Winthrop resident added, "We've asked our representatives in the State House for a single example of a community that wasn't harmed by the addition of a casino and we haven't gotten an answer. That's because there are none and Winthrop is next on the list."


Why aren't lawmakers asking that question? Why aren't lawmakers answering that question as they disenfranchise neighbors?

Neighbors of Suffolk Downs

East Boston Winthrop Revere Chelsea Lynn

www.NeighborsofSuffolkDowns.org

facebook.com/Neighbors of Suffolk Downs

October 3, 2011 - Winthrop, MA - The Winthrop Town Council is scheduled to vote on a measure to urge Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and Senator Anthony Petruccelli (D-East Boston), whose district includes Winthrop, to ensure the town has an up or down referendum vote on any proposed casino at nearby Suffolk Downs race track. The measure was proposed by At-Large Councilor Larry Powers during the last council meeting held on September 20th. The council was lobbied by a group of residents who belong to the grassroots opposition organization, Neighbors of Suffolk Downs. "We're concerned about traffic and crime", said Matt Morano who sits on the board of directors of Neighbors of Suffolk Downs. Neil Paulson, a life long Winthrop resident added, "We've asked our representatives in the State House for a single example of a community that wasn't harmed by the addition of a casino and we haven't gotten an answer. That's because there are none and Winthrop is next on the list."

The topic was brought up for discussion at the behest of Precinct 1 Councilor, Paul Varone, who was unable to attend the last meeting but who will be present at this meeting to place a critical vote. Councilor Powers, who wrote a motion during the debate on the issue said, “I want Winthrop residents to be able to vote up or down whether they want a casino at Suffolk Downs. I want to give the town of Winthrop the authority to vote on any referendum question that comes up on the placement of a casino at Suffolk Downs.”

The President of Neighbors of Suffolk Downs, Winthrop resident John Ribeiro added, "Winthrop is less than a mile from Suffolk Downs and we will have no say on whether a casino is built there. Winthrop will see an increase in crime; our small businesses will be impacted; our home values will decline and traffic will be a nightmare."


The Town Council will meet at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 at 7:00 PM in the Harvey Hearing Room at Town Hall, 1 Metcalf Square, Winthrop, MA

Senator Baddour: Whitewashing Corruption

Surrounded by scandals, indictments, back room deals, cronyism, nepotism and tarred by their own conduct, State Senator Baddour merely affirms the public's cynicism.

Keller @ Large: State Sen. Baddour Talks Beacon Hill Politics

BOSTON (CBS) – Lawmakers on Beacon Hill have been busy debating everything from the casino bill to immigration reform.

WBZ’s Jon Keller recently sat down with State Sen. Steven Baddour (D-Methuen) to discuss the issues.

Lawmakers were debating an amendment to the casino bill last week that would require legislators a certain number of years before seeking employment with the new gambling facilities that are coming to Massachusetts.

Then, Sen. President Terese Murray called off the debate. What happened next?

“The debate was getting heated, and at one point, there was a lot of animosity, and it was getting to a point where it wasn’t the collegial branch,” said State Sen. Baddour. “She banged that gavel to bring people back into the caucus, to calm people down, to remember that we’re here to have a debate. It’s not about personality, it’s about sort of moving an issue forward. In the end, we compromised, and we came up with a ban that’s across the board in all agencies for one year consistently throughout the law.”

Why not five years, as originally discussed?

“Because the law right now in every other area of politics and government is a one-year ban. We spend a lot of money in health care, bio, there’s a one-year ban in those areas. Why make casinos any different?” said State Sen. Baddour.

Will this combat the image of political corruption on Beacon Hill?

“We do have to address the issue of the corruption that’s happened in the last three or four years [what year, Senator?], but at the same time, we just can’t paint a broad brush, and somehow sort of convict everyone who runs for political office. There are good people that care about the Commonwealth and care about the district that they represent. They’re not gonna be there for life. There needs to be opportunities when you leave the legislature, and it shouldn’t be sort of a closed door,” said State. Sen. Baddour.



Gambling Industry as employment agency for out of work lawmakers? Please, Senator!

Casinos as Oz

Casinos as Oz

Gambling is an industry built on the twin spectres of two social diseases: greed and addiction. As a Groveland School Committee member I certainly would wish the most resources for our children, but at what price? Gambling is a degenerate industry. It supports all the social ills humans have pursued. The greed of insatiable state government cleverly masked under the guise that jobs are needed will lead also to the usurping of revenues from local and border businesses.

The degenerate gamblers will be enabled further. The costs in lost revenues, jobs and closed businesses in the vicinity of the casino gambling operations will merely offset the “gains” that are being touted by our state politicians.

My only hope is that when I approach a casino to satisfy my curiosity to visit one, the flowers adorning it will be like the ones in Oz: fake, cheap and plastic.

— Joe D’Amore, Groveland

Massachusetts: How to escape campaign limits

Mired in scandals and indictments, public proclamations ring hollow. While it may not be illegal, it fails the smell test.

Racetrack owner aids politicians’ charities
Mayor, senator say gifts had no influence
By Noah Bierman
Globe Staff

The owner of Suffolk Downs has donated thousands of dollars to charities closely associated with two Boston politicians whose support for its plans to build a full-scale casino has been crucial.

The combined $16,000 donations from the Fields Family Foundation to charities affiliated with Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and state Senator Anthony Petruccelli far exceed what the racetrack’s owner would be allowed to give as campaign donations under state law.

The Fields Foundation, controlled by Suffolk owner Richard Fields, donated $10,000 to Menino’s charity in 2008 and 2009, according the foundation’s nonprofit tax return. Menino has confirmed in the past that a meeting with Fields one year earlier - just after Fields bought the racetrack - was a turning point in his transformation from tepid casino supporter to full-throated ambassador.

In 2009, the Fields charity donated $6,000 to a foundation established by Petruccelli, a Democrat from East Boston, where the track is located, and has provided key support to Suffolk’s casino plans after voicing early skepticism.

The money from the developer, who is hoping for a payday worth hundreds of millions of dollars, helped both politicians maintain their political profiles. Such donations are not illegal.

Both Menino’s spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, and Petruccelli said in interviews that their positions on the casino issue were not influenced by the donations or any promise of contributions. They said their charities solicit donations from many businesses.

Representatives for Fields said the donations represent a small portion of his foundation’s contributions to causes around the country. The local causes, they said, are in line with those interests and part of the track’s commitment to supporting charities throughout the community.

Fields, who lives in Jackson, Wyo., has not made political donations to any of the politicians debating a bill to legalize casinos in Massachusetts, according to state campaign finance records. Such donations would have been a more traditional route to gaining political access.

Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo do not have similar charities.

“For the past two decades, Richard Fields and his family have contributed more than ten million dollars to local community charities focused on helping families, children and law enforcement,’’ Martin R. Klein, chief operating officer of Coastal Development, the New York-based parent company of Suffolk, said in a statement. “In every local community he is involved, including the Boston area, he has supported worthwhile local charities.’’

The Menino-related donations went to a city charity called the Fund for Boston Neighborhoods, which has, while helping some of Boston’s poorest, also paid for the types of public events that have helped Menino maintain his political profile. Last year, for example, the charity bought Christmas gifts for poor children on behalf of the mayor and hosted the “Mayor’s Cup’’ bicycle race and block party on City Hall Plaza, according to the fund’s nonprofit tax filing.

Menino’s stature as a casino supporter has been important to building a broader political coalition favoring expanded gambling in the state. His backing would also be essential in winning local approval - a process that will be far more complicated than the average development approval process - should Suffolk get a license.

Joyce said Menino encourages all companies that do business in the city to get involved with its charities.

“We touch every base when we’re raising money for that fund,’’ Joyce said. “This is companies being good neighbors. Obviously, no matter how much money they donate, it’s the merits of their projects and the merits of their proposals that would allow them to move forward.’’

As Suffolk’s local lawmaker, Petruccelli is also important in the track’s casino bid. The Representative Anthony Petruccelli Charitable Foundation was established in 2005, according to state corporate records, before Petruccelli became a senator. Petruccelli said in an interview that the charity hosts a yearly Christmas dinner, the Eastie Elves, for 500 East Boston residents in which it collects toys for needy children. The senator embraced the casino plan before he received a donation from Fields, but has since supported language in the casino bill that would help make local approval easier.

The Petruccelli foundation does not appear to be registered either with the Internal Revenue Service or the Massachusetts attorney general’s office, according to online database searches and representatives for the agencies. Petruccelli also failed to disclose his former role as the foundation’s president, on at least two of his statements of financial interest, which lawmakers must file annually with the State Ethics Commission.

In 2008, Petruccelli removed himself as the company’s president, and he said in a recent interview that he does not solicit donations. State corporate records show that he was replaced by his chief of staff, Ed Deveau, who did not return a message left for him at Petruccelli’s office.

“I know they’ve been struggling with them in trying to follow up with their reports,’’ Petruccelli said. “I know that is an area where there’s a deficiency in information. They’re continuing to try to straighten all that information out.’’

Petruccelli said he did not know he needed to list his previous position as the organization’s president on his Ethics Commission filing, even though the form specifically requires it.

His sister, Diana Petruccelli DeLeo, serves as the charity’s clerk. (She is not related to the House speaker). She said in an e-mailed statement that the charity relies on unpaid volunteers for the Eastie’s Elves party.

“The organization is reviewing the requirements for compliance with both the Attorney General’s Public Charities Division as well as whether any other informational filings may be required,’’ the statement read.

The IRS spokeswoman, Peggy Riley, said a charity could face tax evasion charges if it collects tax-free gifts and intentionally does not register as a nonprofit. But the organization can legally operate as a for-profit corporation, as long as it files a yearly tax return, she said. Those returns are not public and Petruccelli did not answer specific questions about its tax filings.

Petruccelli said his position on allowing a casino in East Boston evolved as he studied the issue and learned how many more jobs it would create than a slot parlor. Though already a supporter by the time he received a donation from the Fields Foundation in 2009, over the last two years, the state senator has made sure bills before the Legislature have included a provision that would make local approval easier.

He has inserted language that makes East Boston the only neighborhood in the city that would get to vote in a referendum to approve a casino. Other potential casino sites outside of Boston would require referendums by the entire city or town.

Petruccelli said the residents deserve to decide their own fate on casinos, without interference from distant neighborhoods in other parts of Boston.

“The amendment’s not for [Suffolk]. The amendment’s for the community that I live in,’’ Petruccelli said. “For decades, bureaucrats, state agencies, media outlets have all said to people in East Boston what is good for them.’’

Tapie courts new controversy with Full Tilt rescue

Tapie courts new controversy with Full Tilt rescue
By Dominique Vidalon
PARIS (Reuters) - French entrepreneur Bernard Tapie risks fresh controversy by leading a rescue of betting site Full Tilt Poker which U.S. prosecutors accuse of running a Ponzi scheme.

Tapie, a friend of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been prominent in French public life for three decades, often for his involvement in financial scandals, including one which has ensnared IMF head Christine Lagarde.

Tapie was found guilty of corruption in the 1990s and was jailed in 1997 for match-rigging when he controlled football club Olympique de Marseille.

His son Laurent Tapie, managing director of his father's holding company, has signed an exclusive agreement for Groupe Bernard Tapie to buy Full Tilt and its assets and repay money owed to Full Tilt's players, a U.S. lawyer for Full Tilt said in a phone interview.

"They are the most significant investors' group from the perspective of evidence of funding," said the lawyer, Jeff Ifrah.

"These guys are different because they have actually presented financial evidence of the fact that they can pull this off if they come to agreed-on terms with DOJ (the U.S. Department of Justice)."

U.S. federal prosecutors have accused Full Tilt of running a Ponzi scheme in which the company's owners and board members paid themselves half a billion dollars while defrauding players.

Any buyer will have to reach an agreement with the Justice Department to repay the players, and Tapie's group will begin those talks later on Monday, Ifrah said.

Full Tilt also had its gambling license revoked by the British Channel Island of Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) last month.

Bernard Tapie, 68, has re-invented himself numerous times as an actor, politician and sports commentator.

Groupe Bernard Tapie owns around 30 percent in International Stadiums Poker Tour, a poker tournament organizer.

Sarkozy's government last year legalized online poker and sports betting to boost tax revenue, a move that led to an explosion of online gambling sites.

Laurent Tapie founded the now defunct Free-goal.com and Livebetting.com sites.

In an interview with the iGambling France website, Laurent Tapie said his company has "the funds necessary to repay player debts" but that that there was "still a long way to go" before a final deal could be reached.

Separately, Bernard Tapie told Agence France Presse that his group may end up controlling "at most" 5-10 percent of a new shareholding structure for Full Tilt, suggesting there may be other investors.

"Using Full Tilt's valuation of $300 million, a figure that is doing the rounds but must be confirmed...Groupe Bernard Tapie's commitment could reach up to $30 million," French daily Les Echos said on Monday.

Tapie's name has been in the headlines this year over a 285 million euros arbitration payout he received at the end of a 15-year compensation battle against former state bank Credit Lyonnais over the sale of Adidas, the sportswear group he once controlled.

Christine Lagarde, formerly France's finance minister, approved the payment and prosecutors have accused her of complicity in the misuse of public funds. The International Monetary Fund head has denied any misconduct.

Tapie was also involved in a bitter dispute with the management of French resort operator Club Med in which he briefly held a small stake.

(Reporting By Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Christian Plumb and David Cowell)

Alabama: Judge tells Sen. Smith no jurors from SE Alabama

Judge tells Sen. Smith no jurors from SE Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — One of the defendants in Alabama's gambling corruption case, state Sen. Harri Anne Smith of Slocomb, has lost her attempt to have potential jurors from her part of the state considered for her retrial in Montgomery.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson on Monday rejected Smith's request to have potential jurors selected from the federal court system's entire Middle District of Alabama. It stretches from Montgomery to Dothan. Smith's request would have allowed her constituents in southeast Alabama to be considered for the jury.

Thompson ruled the federal court would follow its traditional practice of having potential jurors for Montgomery trials come from counties near Montgomery to hold down travel costs. That practice was also followed in the original gambling corruption trial, which ended in August. The retrial starts in January.

Another of the defendants, VictoryLand casino owner Milton McGregor, filed court papers Monday asking the judge to dismiss the case before the retrial. His attorneys argued that the grand jury did not receive proper instructions about what constitutes vote buying and likely wouldn't have indicted had they received the correct instructions.

Smith, McGregor and five others are awaiting retrial on charges accusing them of swapping campaign contributions for votes in favor of pro-gambling legislation. Their first trial ended with no guilty verdicts, acquittals on some charges, and no decision on others.

Sen. Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport): Kudos!

Gladys in her customary fashion, described the latest Beacon Hill faux pas - Integrity


One sole state Senator, Sen. Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport), the only lawmaker not requiring a spinal transplant deserves Kudos for voting against a ONE YEAR EXCLUSION after a secret Democratic caucus.

The contentious proposal was to impose a FIVE YEAR EXCLUSION, reasonable under the circumstances.

This is not unemployment insurance for those who get tossed from office next November for supporting this flawed legislation.

Massachusetts could ....

Massachusetts Governor "Slot Barns" agreed to support an INDEPENDENT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS, then developed amnesia after his re-election.

It's unclear if the amnesia struck before or after meeting with the Pokasset Tribe and others to promise a Freetown Slot Barn and it's unknown when Governor "Slot Barns" made a similar commitment to Bob Kraft.

It is likely that the commitment to Bob Kraft pre-dated the election which explains Slot Barn's devotion to that pedestrian bridge.

That cherubic face, that winning way, the disarming smile, that "Oops! You caught me" repeatedly to the media....

What else has been promised in back room deals and secret meetings?

Our neighbors to the north conducted an INDEPENDENT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS and proved that the COSTS exceeded the revenue projections.

Not so Massachusetts!

Content to wallow in the taint of public cynicism from scandals and indictments, Beacon Hill is content to debate [if that's what you call the carefully scripted scenarios] Slot Barn Legislation in ignorance.


This is what might have been .....

From Suffolks Downs Neighbor:

New Hampshire conducted an independent study, the commission included people on both sides of the debate. They agreed on all costs and benefits, as a result some of both were thrown out. The result? A Rockingham Park casino would create $143-288 million in costs, greater than its projected $150 million in tax revenues.

NH Gaming Study Commission Final Report

Do we chalk it up to political corruption? ignorance? lobbyists access?

You be the judge next November at the ballot box.

The Fight Of Federal Crackdown On Online Poker

Indicted Banker and Payment Processor Fight Federal Crackdown On Online Poker With Powerful Legal Papers
Nathan Vardi, Forbes Staff
Following the money trail

A payment processor and a banker, who were indicted by federal prosecutors in April as part of a sweeping crackdown on the online poker industry in the U.S., have filed strongly-worded legal papers to fight the government’s charges, arguing online poker businesses like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were not gambling businesses.

John Campos, a former vice-chairman of a Utah bank that allegedly accepted a cash infusion in return for handling online poker transactions, and Chad Elie, a payment processor who is accused of deceptively facilitating the flow of funds between U.S.-based players and online poker companies, filed separate motions to dismiss all counts filed against them in federal court in Manhattan. It is the first direct assault on the April case the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, has brought against online poker’s biggest firms, which includes the indictment of 11 individuals.

For years online poker entrepreneurs and their lawyers bet that the Department of Justice would never mount a direct case against the online poker operators offering for-money U.S. play because of the perceived vagueness surrounding whether online poker violated U.S. law. The Justice Department has long argued that offering for-money online poker play does violate U.S. law, but that position has never been put to the test. By filing four memorandums of law supporting their motions to dismiss, Campos and Elie are highlighting the obstacles the government is facing in litigating an online poker prosecution and giving the first glimpse of the battle ahead.

Campos and Elie are fighting government accusations that they violated the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the Illegal Gambling Business Act and conspired to commit money laundering. Elie is also facing a bank and wire fraud conspiracy charge. Both men point out that the companies involved in the April indictment, PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker, charged a fee, known as a rake, for facilitated poker betting on their web sites that was related to a peer-to-peer game in which players competed against each other and were not part of house-banked games.

“PokerStars and Full Tilt are not ‘illegal gambling businesses’ under IGBA because they are not ‘gambling businesses’ at all,” says one of the legal filings. “To be ‘engaged in the business of betting or wagering’ requires that the business has a stake in the outcome of gambling contests, and the Indictment here fails to allege that the poker companies had any such stake.”

In a 33-page memorandum, Campos, who was vice-chairman of Sun First Bank, claims the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act charges against him must be dismissed because the law exempts financial transaction providers like a Utah bank and those working on their behalf. For his part Elie filed three different memorandums supporting his motions to dismiss all charges filed against him, which he claims are part of a “flawed attempt” by the government.

The legal filings made by Campos and Elie both spend a lot of ink arguing the government’s case is baseless because poker is a game of skill and not chance—and therefore poker is not gambling. They point out that the Illegal Gambling Business Act lists nine activities regarded as gambling that do not include poker or any other card game, and claim that poker does not have much in common with the games the law cites, such as lottery or house-banked games in which the bettor has no role in the outcome like bookmaking, roulette or slot machines. “Online poker is a game in which the outcome depends to at least some degree on skill,” one of the court filings says.

Both Campos and Elie take a poke at U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who in congressional testimony in March said he did not know if poker was a game of chance or skill. “The common man is at a loss,” Elie argues in one of his memos. “Indeed, the Attorney General himself has commented that determining whether poker is a game of chance is ‘beyond [his] capabilities.’”

The legal filings also make jurisdictional arguments, saying PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker conducted their businesses offshore and not in the state of New York, where the indictment is filed. The only conduct in New York was the betting and accepting of bets from the state of New York, which is not sufficient to be seen as conduct carried out in the state, they claim. Elie hammers home this point in one of his court filings, saying the government is improperly using New York state law to bring federal charges of violating the Illegal Gambling Business Act. Campos and Elie argue the money laundering conspiracy charges must be dropped because they are based on bogus allegations of illegal gambling business activity.

Another notable argument can be found in Elie’s effort to undermine the government’s claim that he conspired to commit bank and wire fraud by getting banks and financial firms to process online poker transactions, disguising them to look like they were unrelated to online poker. The April indictment filed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, which includes charges against two founders of PokerStars and Full Tilt, rely to a large degree on this kind of alleged financial wrongdoing. In a 13-page memorandum, Elie says that to make its case the government has to prove the alleged deception would have caused the banks harm or loss while the transactions in question actually profited the banks. Elie, who is alleged to have started committing bank fraud in 2009, makes a big deal over the fact that he and his partner made a $3.4 million investment in struggling Sun First, which earned $1.6 million in fees processing transactions with Elie’s payment processing firm. “Elie invested in and paid fees to banks, causing them actually to gain money as a result of the payment processing activities.”

In filing their legal arguments in federal court, Campos and Elie have become unlikely warriors in the long battle over online poker in America, making one of the most direct challenges ever against the Justice Department’s position on online poker.

Fool’s gold indeed

Fool’s gold indeed

I found this quote by syndicated columnist Neal Peirce recently about Las Vegas, the original Gambling Capital of the Nation: “Can it then be by sheer happenstance that Nevada leads the nation, year by year, in such crimes as murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery and burglary? That Nevada tops the 50 states in rates of personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures? That the state’s suicide rate is regularly double the national average?”

Las Vegas leads the nation in school dropouts. Nevada leads the nation in lowest attainment of college degrees.

Is that what we want to emulate (“Top DeLeo aide called casinos ‘fool’s gold,’ ” Sept. 29)?



From the PEW Center:
Nevada
-largest unemployment rate of all states-13.4%
-Largest Projected FY 2012 budget deficit of all states at 45.2%

New Jersey
-2nd largest FY 2012 budget deficit at 37.4 (Ma. is 5.7%)
-NJ unemployment rate at 9.4% compared to Ma at 7.4%

Other Casino States in big trouble
-California, 2012 Budget Deficit 29.3%, unemployment 12.1%
-Michigan , Unemployment 11.2%
-Florida-Budget Deficit 14.9%, unemployment 10.7%
-Rhode Island Deficit 11.3%, unemployment 10.6%
-Illinois-14.6 Deficit, 9.9% Unemployment
-Connecticut 18.% deficit, 9% unemployment

SY Band claims super-sovereignty

SY Band claims super-sovereignty
By Lana Marcussen, Guest Columnist

The Santa Ynez Band (Chumash Casino Tribe) on Sept. 16, presented an aggressive version of why they should be allowed to place 1,400 acres of land, an area the size of Solvang, into federal trust status.

The technical presentation by Professor Carl Artman (former assistant secretary of Indian Affairs and an Arizona State law professor and member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin) asserted that the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians is the original local government of the entire area, and all land in the area should be under its “inherent sovereignty.”

There is no question that the Chumash Indian tribal groups were present before the arrival of the Spanish in the Santa Barbara area and had a thriving advanced culture. However, the Santa Ynez Band, recognized by the United States in 1978 as a “tribe,” has no surviving descendants of the Chumash group for which Mission Santa Ynez was founded.

In fact, “Chumash” was added to their name only because the band voted to amend their name, quite probably as the necessary tactic to “re-acquire aboriginal territory.”

According to Professor Artman, the Santa Ynez Band’s sovereignty is completely independent of the federal and state governments and does not derive in any way from the Constitution of the United States, because the tribal governments predate the United States. Indian tribes as “inherent sovereigns” write their own laws, make their own rules and are responsible only to their own members.

Professor Artman then applied his theory of omnipotent tribal sovereignty to explain that the fiduciary trust relationship between the United States and the Indian tribes cannot be terminated or modified by either Congress or the president to diminish or limit the Indian trust relationship. Professor Artman then opined that placing lands into federal trust status, the fee-to-trust process, is part of this unlimited fiduciary trust relationship.

The implication of Professor Artman’s position is that the restoration of tribal land to an Indian tribe by the United States is not subject to challenge by any non-member of the Indian tribe that would receive the land. Non-members include all persons, citizen groups, local and state governments, federal government officials and any other entity that is not part of the benefiting Indian tribe.

Professor Artman attempted to convince the audience that placing private fee land into federal trust status for the Santa Ynez Band – thereby removing it from all federal, state, county and municipal control – somehow restores “local control.” Under Professor Artman’s “super-sovereignty” theory, these extra-constitutional tribal governments were the first governments and therefore the only “legal” governments. Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta has also publicly asserted this notion.

This theory would be laughable, except that the Santa Ynez Band is not the only tribe attempting to enforce Professor Artman’s position. Currently, there are three Indian tribes suing the United States government, asserting that their sovereignty is inviolate even against officers and employees of the United States.

The Yakama tribe in Washington State is suing the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, claiming that all federal officials and employees must request the permission of the Yakama tribe before they can enter upon the Yakama Indian reservation. The Seneca Indian Nation of New York is suing the United States to require the BIA to acknowledge their absolute sovereignty over their “territory,” which is state land. The Cherokee Nation is asserting omnipotent sovereignty in reinterpreting an 1866 treaty with the United States that required them to give tribal membership to their former black slaves.

The Santa Ynez Band will undoubtedly attempt to use Professor Artman’s extreme theory of omnipotent “tribal sovereignty” to intimidate the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, and perhaps other receptive politicians, into entering an intergovernmental agreement over the 1,400 acres or otherwise supporting fee-to-trust.

All over the country, politicians and bureaucrats disregard the tremendous disruption and negative impacts on communities caused by accepting the sovereign authority over land of hundreds of recently created Indian tribes. (Until 1978, there were only about 175 federally recognized Indian tribes. Today there are more than 565 tribes.)

Is the Board of Supervisors again going to undermine the property owners and citizens of the Santa Ynez Valley by allowing the Band to expand their already powerful political base into this “super-sovereignty” by entering into an intergovernmental agreement with the tribe or otherwise supporting expansion of their land or authority? There is no way to negotiate a mutually enforceable intergovernmental agreement when one side is claiming that neither state nor federal law applies to them. According to Professor Artman, only tribal law can be used to interpret any agreement entered into by the Santa Ynez Band and tribal law is whatever the tribe says it is. This also applies to any language for a waiver of tribal sovereign immunity built into an intergovernmental agreement. The tribe can claim that the language applies only as interpreted by their laws, making any possible waiver completely unenforceable.

The Santa Ynez Band is stating they need 1,400 acres of fee land in trust for their tribe for housing their members and descendants. According to speaker Dave Schaffer, executive director of the All Mission Indian Housing Authority, the Santa Ynez Band has 140 enrolled members and 1,300 descendants.

There is nothing that prevents the Santa Ynez Band from developing its property for housing like any other private property owner using the same state processes that everyone else follows. Professor Artman was obviously not familiar with California law when he said that state law gives less protection for development than federal law. According even to the Santa Ynez Bands’ own specific comparison that followed Professor Artman’s presentation, California environmental laws are at least as strict as federal law.

For example, California law requires developers to have utility guarantees that include water use and disposal plans in place before a project can begin. California law requires regional cooperation and coordination of utilities to encourage centralized waste disposal to prevent small dumps and waste treatment facilities from popping up all over an area. Larger waste facilities generally use better technology for controlling odor, insect vectors and controlling runoff. These facilities are then also subject to state inspection and compliance under far more stringent standards than federal law requires.

In addition, all federal military bases and federal building projects are required to meet California’s comprehensive development laws. Why should lands owned by an Indian tribe be subject to lesser requirements?

Accepting the Santa Ynez Band and Professor Artman’s assertion of “super-sovereignty,” by agreeing to place them outside county and state process and the Community Plan, would completely disrupt the justifiable expectations of private property owners in the Valley. As super-sovereigns, they say any property they own, or any property they later purchase, would be subject only to their own rules.

Fortunately, the United States Supreme Court disagrees with Professor Artman’s theory of tribal “super-sovereignty.” Professor Artman is attempting to refute recent changes in federal Indian law that virtually shut down the federal fee-to trust process.

One of these breakthrough legal decisions holding that local people can be harmed by placing private fee lands into federal trust status for a tribe, was won against the Santa Ynez Band by two local citizen groups: Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO) and Preservation of Santa Ynez (POSY).

These same citizen groups after winning “standing” to sue to protect their property and other interests, were then able to cite two recent United States Supreme Court decisions to challenge whether the Santa Ynez Band is eligible under the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934 to have any lands placed into trust status, and whether the federal government even has the power to remove land from state jurisdiction by placing the land into trust status.

The Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA), when presented with these questions, dissolved the 2005 decision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Regional Director that the 6.9 acres could be taken into trust status.

Under the IBIA order, the regional director must allow POLO and POSY to participate in any administrative decision-making over the 6.9 acres and must also answer both questions as to the eligibility of the Santa Ynez Band to obtain trust land.

The IBIA order is now 18 months old, and no action appears to have been taken by the Sacramento Regional Office of the BIA on the 6.9 acre fee-to-trust application.

Given the current status of this fee-to-trust application, the Santa Ynez Band has not yet even filed an application to the BIA to have the 1,400 acres placed into trust status.

Even considering supporting expansion of land or authority of an entity claiming “super-sovereignty” directly assaults the rights of all other people under the U.S. Constitution. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, or any other politicians or bureaucrats that deliberately undermine decisions of the United States Supreme Court are themselves acting without legal authority.

The Board of Supervisors should carefully consider the ramifications of negotiating with the “super-sovereign” Santa Ynez Band.

Lana Marcussen is the legal advisor of Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, CERA, www.citizensalliance.org. CERA is the only national grass roots organization advocating we are all one people under law. CERA and Lana are involved in fee to trust cases from California to New York.

Casino Fire, Drugs, Organized Crime Linked

Global Action Needed to Stop Deadly Drug Gangs Say Anti-Crime Experts

Warning that the solution to narcotics trafficking must be global in scale, the chief United Nations anti-crime official began a two-day official visit to Mexico, where tens of thousands of people have been murdered and mutilated in drug wars over the past five years.

“Organized crime and the criminals behind these networks pose a massive threat to the region and are increasingly impacting on other parts of the world,” UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov said after a first meeting with President Felipe Calderón in Mexico City, praised the country’s efforts in countering organized crime.

“These criminals are responsible for the death and misery of people across the globe through their increasingly diversified illicit operations. We have to remember, however, that such violent crimes form part of a much bigger, worldwide picture in which we face a complex and shifting threat; we have to remember that while the crimes are often violently local, our solutions must be global.”

In meetings with Mr. Calderón and a number of senior leaders, Mr. Fedotov’s will discuss areas ranging from human trafficking and migrant smuggling through to illicit drugs and corruption.

“On too many occasions, it is the citizens who have become victims while attempting to pursue a peaceful existence,” he said of those who are often most affected by organized crime.

Recalling last month’s “abhorrent” violence at a casino in Monterrey, where 52 people were reported to have died in an arson attack linked to drug gangs, Mr. Fedotov pledged his agency’s continued support to Mexico, noting that its location at the intersection between South America and North America often pits it against criminal groups working to undermine peace and security.

Speaking ahead of his visit, Mr. Fedotov commended Mexico’s security and justice reforms which are seen as critical moves in tackling organized crime while simultaneously placing victims at the center of support. The country’s ongoing security reform and other steps to respond to illegal activities are important as are recent moves to improve conditions for victims of crime during investigations and protect their integrity, dignity and identity.

In his speech to the General Assembly’s annual general debate last week, Mr. Calderón called on the UN to help establish strict controls in producer and supplier countries on the high-powered weapons that feed the arsenals of traffickers.

Pennsylvania: Panel tackles casino grand jury report

Panel tackles casino grand jury report
BY ROBERT SWIFT (HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF)


HARRISBURG - A House panel will start deliberations this week on a package of prospective bills to implement recommendations made to overhaul the state Gaming Control Board by a state grand jury last spring.

The Gaming Oversight Committee has scheduled a hearing Wednesday on a "Gaming Board Rehabilitation Package," a collection of proposals ranging from strengthening public corruption laws to putting new restrictions on who can be appointed to the gaming board. A co-sponsorship memo outlines 14 measures that have yet to be formally introduced.

Committee members have been drafting these bills since a grand jury based in Allegheny County issued a report that puts state casino licensing practices in a harsh light.

In the 102-page report, the grand jury concluded the gaming board was fixated during 2005-06 on making the licensing process fair to casino applicants at the public's expense. The report contained no charges of wrongdoing against any individuals associated with the licensing process that began shortly after Pennsylvania legalized slot casinos in 2004.

In one key finding, the grand jury determined that the gaming board treated Mount Airy Casino Resort in Paradise Twp. differently from other applicants and that two officials ordered key changes in information for a suitability report about Mount Airy founder Louis DeNaples' alleged ties to William D'Elia, a reputed head of the organized crime family founded by the late Russell Bufalino. Mr. DeNaples consistently denied any ties to Mr. D'Elia during the course of a now-dismissed perjury case against him in Dauphin County.

Panel Chairman Curt Schroder, R-155, Exton, is addressing a grand jury conclusion that existing state laws are inadequate to combat public corruption. He plans to introduce a new chapter in the state crimes code focusing on anti-fraud and corruption measures.

Rep. Karen Boback, R-117, Harveys Lake, a panel member, is drafting a bill to require fuller disclosure of closed-door executive sessions by the gaming board.

Another planned measure would prohibit gaming board members from meeting in executive session to deliberate slot machine license applications, except in very limited situations where confidential information is being considered.

A pending bill addresses the duties of the gaming board's Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement in handling information about a license applicant. The House voted last winter to transfer BIE to the state attorney general's office.

“Chasing Dirty Money: The Fight Against Money Laundering.”

Singapore Pledges Jail, New Tactics for Financial Criminals
By Andrea Tan


(Updates to add punishments in 15th paragraph, comment from lawyer in 19th paragraph.)

Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore, where assets under management have risen fivefold to $1.2 trillion since 2001, will seek tougher penalties for white-collar criminals and co-operate more with global agencies to deter money laundering and tax evasion, Attorney General Sundaresh Menon said.

Prosecutors are also considering the use of deferred prosecution, Menon, 49, said in an interview, a year after taking office. He was referring to a commonly used method in the U.S. under which defendants who agree to cooperate with investigators, pay fines or implement corporate reforms have charges against them dismissed if they fully comply.

The Asian city state, which has the highest proportion of millionaires of any place in the world and with economic growth of 14.5 percent last year boosted by two new casinos, was criticized in a March U.S. State Department report as being vulnerable to money launderers.

“We’ve gone out of our way to make sure that we’ve got as strong and robust a framework as possible,” Menon said. “This has contained the incidence of illicit dealings that might have happened” because of the increased amount of wealth in Singapore, he said.

He dismissed suggestions from the U.S. March report that Singapore’s bank secrecy laws attract tax evaders and money launderers.

Tax-Exempt Gains

Singapore, where bank deposits for foreigners aren’t taxed and gains from investments including equities are tax-exempt, has pledged to comply with international tax standards and was dropped from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development’s so-called gray list in 2009.

“We’ve one of the best money-laundering legislations in the world,” said Andy Yeo, principal partner of Allen & Gledhill LLP’s white collar crime practice and former prosecutor. “But is the stick being effectively wielded, given the amount of the world’s money flowing here?”

Money-laundering convictions in Singapore have climbed to an average of 21 a year from 2008 to 2010 compared with four between 2000 to 2007, according to the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based watchdog. Hong Kong had 360 money- laundering convictions in 2010, compared with 179 in 2007.

A relatively low prosecution rate shows that Singapore’s regulatory system is working, said Menon, the former managing partner at Singapore’s Rajah & Tann LLP and previously the head of the Asian disputes practice of Cleveland-based law firm Jones Day.

‘Throw the Book’

“To some extent, it’s inevitable that people are going to try in spite of the robust framework we have and the seriousness with which we take this,” Menon said. “But when it does happen, I will throw the book at them.”

Singapore has to continue tightening its rules if it wants to be among one of the world’s major financial centers, said Edwin Truman, author of “Chasing Dirty Money: The Fight Against Money Laundering.”

“It has to if it doesn’t want any questions asked about the underlying legality of transactions there,” said Truman, a former U.S. Treasury official.

Aedit Abdullah, a former judge and central bank lawyer hired by Menon, said that jail terms now handed down for private sector corruption will be sought for other white collar crimes, including securities offenses.

“A crime is a crime,” Menon said. “A corporate criminal should at times be punished even more rigorously because he’s breaking the law in order to profit.”

Tools in the Armory

Singapore, which is known for imposing high fines for minor infractions such as littering, uses caning as a punishment for certain offences. The city-state also enforces the death penalty for serious crimes such as drug smuggling.

Singapore, which set up a special police unit and Casino Regulatory Authority has as “many tools in our armory as possible,” he said.

The Asian city may overtake Las Vegas in gaming revenue this year, according to the American Gaming Association.

The money flows in the casinos do pose “a threat” of money laundering and that’s recognized, Menon said.

“As a sign that Singapore is serious about enforcing its laws on money laundering, the authorities have also taken steps to prosecute for the failing to report suspicious transactions,” said Eric Chan, a regulatory lawyer at Drew & Napier LLC.

Cross-Border Crime

Fighting increasingly sophisticated cross-border crime requires better co-operation amongst agencies, he said, noting that his examination of the potential use of deferred prosecution agreements came out of meetings this year with U.S. prosecutors including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The U.S. Justice Department and Singapore have cooperated on many cases and the use of wire taps against insider trading “was very interesting,” Menon said.

Raj Rajaratnam, the co-founder of Galleon Group LLC, was convicted in May in the largest hedge-fund insider trading case in U.S. history after prosecutors presented evidence using secret government wire taps.

In March, Peter Madhavan became the first independent director to be sentenced to jail for breaking Singapore’s securities laws.

The following month, Singapore’s highest court upheld a nine-month jail term for Jeanette Ang, 52, for her part in an “audacious banking scam,” which involved fraudulent bank transfers to the island from the U.S.

FBI Special Agent Michael Nail, the lead investigator in a probe concerning several money transfers from the U.S. to bank accounts in Singapore, testified at the trial, according to the ruling by Appeal Judge V. K. Rajah.

Former New York prosecutor Sandy Baggett, a Singapore permanent resident, joins the Economic Crimes and Governance Division of Menon’s chambers today, the first Singapore public prosecutor with a U.S. passport.

Apart from cooperating with the U.S., Singapore prosecutors will also be sent to work temporarily in other international financial centers, Menon said.

“White collar crime will attract some of the smartest people on the criminal side,” he said. “We will constantly have to up our game and enhance our skills and resources.”

--Editors: Douglas Wong, Joe Schneider, Lars Klemming.

German high roller sues Wynn over unpaid gambling debts

German high roller sues Wynn over unpaid gambling debts
By Steve Green

A high roller from Germany sued Wynn Las Vegas on Wednesday in hopes of blocking criminal charges over his unpaid gambling debts.

Konstantin Zoggolis charged in the lawsuit that he had been a Wynn patron for about five years and that he and Wynn Las Vegas agreed to limit his credit line to $250,000 in November 2008.

"Plaintiff exercised his right to self limit his access to the issuance of credit pursuant to" a Nevada Gaming Commission regulation, the lawsuit says.

Despite this alleged limit, Wynn is trying to recover from Zoggolis $1.3 million evidenced by 11 gambling markers issued to him during September and October 2010, the lawsuit says.

These markers are check-like negotiable instruments.

The suit says that because the markers have not been paid, Wynn Las Vegas has asked the Clark County District Attorney’s office to prosecute Zoggolis on bad check charges.

"If criminal proceedings are commenced against plaintiff at the direction of defendant in an effort to collect invalid debts, plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm before a decision on the merits can be rendered," said the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Las Vegas and seeks an injunction blocking Wynn from initiating criminal proceedings against Zoggolis.

"Plaintiff has an absolute right to reduce defendant’s demand by $1.05 million because defendant has not complied with its cross-obligation under the credit agreement to limit plaintiff’s credit line to $250,000," the lawsuit says.

"By failing to limit plaintiff’s credit line to $250,000, defendant was in material breach of the credit agreement such that plaintiff’s duty to repay any markers in excess of $250,000 was discharged under common law contract principles. Defendant made this promise for the purpose of ensuring responsible gaming," the lawsuit says.

Wynn Las Vegas had no comment on the lawsuit, a spokeswoman said.

Collecting casino debts through civil lawsuits, criminal charges and less-drastic measures is nothing new for Wynn and other Las Vegas casinos. Most recently, Wynn was in the news over a protracted struggle over debts allegedly owed by Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild fame.

Son-in-law stole to fund his gambling

Son-in-law stole £10k to fund his gambling

A gambler who stole more than £10,000 from his mother-in-law to fund his addiction, avoided jail with an alternative sentence of 160 hours’ community service.


Twenty-eight-year-old Gary Gillies stole his mother-in-law’s bank card from a house in Wilton Hill, last December, and over a month used it to steal £10,390 at ATMs throughout Scotland.

It was a transaction made while his mother-in-law was in hospital which aroused suspicion.

Gillies, of William Booth Place, St Ninians, Stirling, virtually emptied her account – leaving a balance of £2.99 – after regularly withdrawing sums of £200-£300.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard how Gillies’ crime had led to the breakdown of his marriage.

His mother-in-law has been compensated for her loss by the bank.

Procurator fiscal Morag McLintock said the accused’s mother-in-law “had concerns” when she received a statement showing her account some £10,000 short.

She was due to go into hospital and after being discharged contacted the bank when she found her account further reduced.

“A transaction had taken place while she was in hospital and a police investigation led to the accused, who attended at Stirling Police Station and confessed,” explained Ms McLintock.

“He said he had a bad gambling addiction and withdrew £200 or £300 on each occasion until he almost emptied the account, which had £2.99 left in it.”

Gillies told officers: “It was wrong and I am trying to put everything right.”

Solicitor Rory Bannerman, defending, said his client’s relationship had suffered because of his offending.

“He has broken down his family because of this criminal conduct although it is to their credit that he still has the support of his estranged wife and her family, which he appreciates he doesn’t deserve, given what he did.

“During a month he went through £10,000 ensuring that he had money to gamble with,” continued Mr Bannerman.

“It was a vicious circle, as he kept telling himself that if he kept taking it, he would win enough money to pay it back.”

Mr Bannerman said the bank had repaid the victim for her loss.

He said Gillies, who works for a landscape gardener, had sought help for his gambling addiction.

He admitted stealing a bank card from a house in Wilton Hill between December 1-31, 2010, and using it to steal £10,390 at automatic teller machines in Hawick and elsewhere in Scotland, between December 11, 2010 and January 10, 2011.

Sheriff Donald Corke described the offence as a gross breach of trust which could easily have seen Gillies jailed.

FalconStor shareholder lawsuits to continue

FalconStor shareholder lawsuits to continue
Long Island Business News
The class action lawsuits involve bribery in the form of Fa1conStor stock options, restricted shares and money deposited in a casino gaming account. The suits charge the bribes were made to obtain three software contracts from Chase, including $4.1 ...

Although former FalconStor CEO ReiJane Huai committed suicide a day before he was slated to plead guilty to a role in a bribery scheme involving the sale of millions of dollars in software and services to JPMorganChase, shareholder class action lawsuits are ongoing against the firm and its executives.

Newsday today first reported that the former CEO of Melville-based FalconStor was scheduled to appear in court to plead guilty on Tuesday, the day after his suicide.

One of Long Island’s most successful high-tech executives, Huai lately found himself the target of a wide range of litigation, including class action lawsuits as well as a criminal proceeding by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Josiah Kharje, assistant to Judge Leonard Wexler in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, confirmed to LIBN that Huai was slated to plead guilty in a criminal suit.

FalconStor and various executives still face class action suits charging that Huai and other executives from Feb. 5, 2009 to Sept. 29, 2010, artificially inflated FalconStor’s stock price by misrepresenting the company’s revenues and prospects to the public.

The suits also cite Huai’s role in artificially boosting earnings through the bribery case in which he was set to plead guilty.

Prosecutors claimed FalconStor provided Zahner with a roughly $6,000 golf club membership to a club in Ohio; a $26,000 downpayment toward a home in Galena, Ohio; $10,000 in gift cards; $126,000 in FalconStor stock options and restricted shares; $10,000 in cash and $7,000 related to gambling debts and other entertainment fees in Macau, China.

Casinos won’t benefit jobs

Casinos won’t benefit jobs
State needs different plan for employment growth
By Tyler Diedrich

If building and operating casinos off Indian reservations is Gov. Andrew Cuomo's way of boosting New York's economy, this state must be all but hopeless for economic revival.


Commercial gambling is currently prohibited in New York, but Indian gaming, racetrack gaming and lotteries are legal.


With Cuomo's persuasion, state legislative leaders are considering a constitutional amendment to allow non-Indian casinos – a move that would require voter approval – in New York, according to a Sept. 21 Associated Press report.


Maryland, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are also considering such options, according to a Sept. 26 gamingtoday.com article.


Casinos are expected to open in Ohio's four largest cities – Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo – in the next year or two and provide more than 6,000 jobs, according a Sept. 13 AP report.


But at what cost?


Approximately 15 million Americans – nearly one out of every 20 – display some sign of gambling addiction, according to overcominggambling.com.


Those addicted to gambling are 60 percent more likely to commit crimes, 63 percent more likely to become alcoholics and 50 percent more likely to abuse spouses or children, or get divorced, according to an Aug. 27 report on casinowatch.com.


Let's see if the state can put a positive, money-making spin on those numbers.


Are there are no other solutions for the state to make money and create jobs other than inviting people to dump their money away?


I won't pretend to have a solution on creating jobs, but I'm not sure this desperate measure would necessarily better our state, even if it adds a few jobs.


The state would essentially be relying on its citizens' own selfishness and ignorance to try and fix an issue it apparently has no substantial idea how to correct.


Still, the majority of voters seem to approve of the potential expansion. In a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University last week, 56 percent of voters said they support licensed casinos away from reservations, and 64 percent said they believed casinos would be good for the economy.


The poll also showed people admitted gambling addiction would probably increase if there were more casinos, but it would still be good for the economy.


Here's an idea – let's send those people to Las Vegas or Atlantic City for a two-week vacation, let them ‘stimulate' those local economies by blowing all their money, then see how much they care about New York state's economy.


Aside from the addiction, crime and debt for many ignorant citizens, commercial casinos could hurt small businesses. Studies have shown expanded gaming can interfere with real economic development, as it decreases competition among local retail shops, bars, restaurants and entertainment venues, according a Sept. 27 Boston Daily article.


If this measure goes to a vote once the new state legislative session begins in January, please use your heads, New Yorkers. Realize you would be getting used to ‘fix' a problem our state is too incompetent to correct legitimately on its own.

Parasitic clubs prey on addicts

Parasitic clubs prey on addicts

ISN’T it about time the public on the northern beaches showed they can’t be swayed by cynical advertising campaigns by big business and supported reforming our gambling culture?

As a blow-in from overseas, one of my saddest first impressions of Sydney many years ago was of these dismal rooms that dominated hotels and clubs, full of miserable looking people fixated on flashing lights and whirring wheels.

For our multi-million dollar clubs to claim an attempt to help problem gamblers is an issue about personal freedom, or that their good, honest charity work will be affected is a disgrace.

Would it be an excuse for the clubs to say jobs and community work will suffer if the clubs made money selling heroin?

The effects of problem gambling on society are actually much worse than those of illicit drug addiction.

These super rich clubs are making money immorally and standing any number of sad children or disgruntled old folks in front of them does not sway me.

So your community programs and jobs will suffer if this revenue is reduced?

Tough, this money will still exist and go through the economy, through shops, on clothes and food and rent, a far better result for us all.

Our clubs are not communities, they are large businesses making some of their money by parasitically preying on addicts, don’t be fooled.

Julian Brown, Manly Vale

Financial infidelity can be as damaging as an affair

Financial infidelity can be as damaging as an affair
By MARIE GILBERT

Some will lie about their earnings. Others will siphon money from joint accounts. Then, there are those who create elaborate schemes to cover up gambling addictions and thousands of dollars of debt.

Having an affair isn't the only form of cheating that can ruin a marriage.

There's also financial infidelity — lying to a spouse or partner about money.

And, just like an affair, it can erode trust, create conflict and spell doom to a relationship.

According to a survey conducted earlier this year by the National Endowment for Financial Education, 31 percent of 2,000 respondents said they had been deceptive about money. One-third said they had been victims of money lies.

And 67 percent said financial deception led to an argument; 42 percent said it caused less trust in the relationship; and 16 percent said the dishonesty led to divorce.

With both offenders and victims, the leading money crimes were hiding cash, purchases and bills. Meanwhile, a significant number of people admitted keeping secret bank accounts and lying about earnings or large debts.

There were instances of people obtaining loans from their 401(k)s and even home equity loans without informing or being honest with their significant other.

Some also lied to cover up addictions to shopping, gambling, drugs or sex.

But the secrecy eventually manifested itself, the survey showed.

That's why Nick De Waal, a licensed clinical professional counselor, believes finances is a part of every relationship that needs to be addressed from the very beginning.

"I think it's a big issue in relationships," he said. "And I urge every couple to get on the same page in regard to finances. See what money is going where. Sit down and talk about financial futures and goals and discuss a budget. Finances are a big part of relationships and can lead to loss of trust."

De Waal, who practices in Hagerstown, said he has seen, in particular, the repercussions of hiding a gambling addiction.

"I believe, in this situation, some feel embarrassed because of their choices, which caused them to lose the money or make bad decisions," he said. "With gambling, one typically feels they can get it all back and replace what is lost so there is no need to let their spouse know.

"The disappointment of their actions is sometimes too much to admit but can cause severe problems if not communicated effectively to their partner," he added. "Sometimes, it is not about their partner but admitting to themselves that they have a problem."

A study by The Hartford and MIT AgeLab found that men and women tend to lie equally about money. Many lie because they feel entitled to make purchases, even if their significant others don't approve. They lie to protect their choice.

People who are big savers hide money, including bonuses, from their spouses or partners for fear it will be spent; while others, who are free spirits, keep secret accounts to support fun activities and purchases.

The study also noted that the individual who handles the family finances, such as physically writing the checks, making deposits and handling investments, has an easier time of financially cheating.

Researchers who conducted the study suggest that it's healthy for married couples to take joint responsibility in all aspects of financial management of a household, making every financial decision and taking every action together.

Once money lies are uncovered, the job of rebuilding trust begins, said De Waal.

"In any situation, where trust is lost, I believe it is very important to first acknowledge the behavior to your partner and yourself," he said.

De Waal said it's also important to realize that re-establishing trust will take time and honesty.

"Knowing that this takes time, it's important to provide reassurance to your partner," he said. "Answer the questions your partner may have."

De Waal said there are several red flags that could alert an individual to whether or not a spouse or partner is financially cheating, including:


• Hiding bills
• Only carrying cash
• Having separate credit cards or banks
• Controlling all the finances and not sharing the responsibility with the partner.

"This can all be prevented by working together with the finances and doing the bills together or making the other aware about the budget and where the money is going," De Waal said.

Just like everything else in a relationship, he said, "It all boils down to communication."

Poker machine reforms won't work? Don't bet on it

Poker machine reforms won't work? Don't bet on it
Tom Cummings

"Won't work" has become the new black. Carbon tax? Won't work, says the Coalition. Plain cigarette packaging? Won't work, say retailers and the tobacco industry.

Poker machine reforms? Won't work, says the gambling industry.

No proof is required; it's enough to stare into the camera, look earnest and say forcefully, "It. Won't. Work."

In fact, it's often better to avoid trying to justify the assertion. Take poker machine reforms, for example. The anti-reform lobby, headed by Clubs Australia and backed by the AHA, the NRL and a host of right-wing shock jocks (to name a few) has given several reasons why poker machine reforms won't work.

Yet the reasons are generally contradictory, such as problem gamblers being driven away from the pokies to gamble online, while at the same time finding ways around the reforms to continue playing the pokies. They've been called out on this several times (most recently by Leigh Sales on the ABC's 7.30); it would have been much easier to say, simply, that they just won't work.

But Clubs Australia have taken this one step further. They've just launched their latest campaign against the reforms (remember "It's Un-Australian"?) and it's called, naturally enough, "Won't Work, Will Hurt." They've delivered hundreds of thousands of pamphlets to houses in marginal electorates across the east coast, targeting specific MPs and urging residents to rise up against the reforms.

With a new campaign comes a new focus. The potential financial impact of the reforms has taken a back seat, as a direct consequence of the public backlash against an industry that is crying poor yet, overall, takes $12 billion a year. The potential community impact has also been shunted aside. And gone is any reference at all to the reforms being "un-Australian".

Instead, we get Clubs Australia wearing their hearts on their collective sleeve. We care about problem gamblers, they say, and that's why we oppose these reforms. They won't help problem gamblers; they won't work. And as to why they won't work? Apparently problem gamblers will be the first to get a licence. They'll set ridiculously high spending limits. And the reforms don't stop problem gamblers from partaking on other forms of gambling.

There's more, plenty more, but that's the guts of it. The essence of their argument is that it doesn't matter what you do, problem gamblers will always find a way to gamble... so do nothing. Let them spend their money and develop their addictions, and only then will we step in with counselling and exclusion programs, and pick up the pieces.

When it's already too late.

There is so much wrong with this approach.

For starters, Clubs Australia continues to wilfully misrepresent the proposed poker machine reforms. They insist that every poker machine player will need to register for a licence; this is not true. The proposed reforms state that poker machines that are downgraded to a $1 maximum bet will NOT require pre-commitment, and the fact is that 88 per cent of Australia's 5 million pokie gamblers play $1 or less per spin. It is also a fact that the software changes required to cap maximum bets at $1 are cheaper and simpler than installing pre-commitment technology, and so it stands to reason that the majority of venues would take up this option. Victoria recently legislated a drop in the maximum bet on poker machines from $10 to $5, with little or no fuss or reaction from the industry... so this is not a new concept.

Minimal implementation costs; minimal impact on gamblers. This doesn't sit well with the industry, it negates their arguments, exposes the lies in their financial modelling and undermines their position. So they deny it. Clubs Australia CEO Anthony Ball has repeatedly denied the existence of "low-loss" poker machines... even though they are just the same machines we have now, reprogrammed.

Then there's the matter of responsibility. Every measure that the gambling industry supports to tackle problem gambling puts the onus on the gambler, and absolves the venues of responsibility. Counselling and self-exclusion are fine and worthy strategies, but they don't enter the picture until after gambling addiction has taken hold, by which time the harm has already been done. Even voluntary pre-commitment (and just how voluntary pre-commitment can work if mandatory pre-commitment will fail is beyond me), supported by the industry, leaves it up to the gambler to take part in the scheme and make it work.

The reality is that responsibility is a three way street. Gamblers must have personal responsibility, but so too the gambling industry and our governments need to show responsibility in the products they offer and the laws they pass.

But rising above both of these is their characterisation of problem gamblers. Do you really think Clubs Australia have any idea what goes on inside the head of a problem gambler? That their concern for problem gamblers is based on the very best of intentions?

I don't. And here's why.

I discovered poker machines in my mid-20s. I had a good job at the time, a couple of years out of university and life appeared wonderful. I wasn't a gambler; bets on the Melbourne Cup and a weekly lottery ticket were the extent of my betting prowess.

But something clicked inside my head the very first time I played the pokies. It was the start of years of addiction, years in which I pissed away close to $100,000 and destroyed the trust of everyone I knew. I was a poker machine addict, and no matter my intentions, I simply could not stop playing. Suicide became an option I seriously contemplated, and it took discovery, exposure and the loss of everything I had to finally force my hand and give me the ability to step away.

Yet while I was playing the pokies, I wasn't gambling on anything else... and in the years since I stopped, no other form of gambling has interested me. It wasn't about the gambling; it was about the pokies and nothing more.

Poker machine addicts are not problem gamblers, not in the classic sense. It's not about weighing up the odds, making your decisions and sweating on the outcome. There's no sense of achievement, no rush, no thrill. Poker machines dull your mind and provide a refuge from the world. It's about repetition, the hypnotic action of the spinning reels; it's the very fact that no knowledge or decision-making is required that makes them so effective at fostering addiction and taking your money. And every few seconds, you have the opportunity to win... to make up for the losses you've already had.

Problem gamblers want to bet, and will find any excuse to do so. Poker machine addicts hate their addiction, and desperately want to stop... but feel unable to do so. It's irrational, sure, but it's the reality. Every morning for years I would wake up and swear off the pokies. Today was the day, I would declare. Time to cut my losses and walk away. Time to reclaim my life.

But a few hours later, my resolve would waver. I would start convincing myself that I could win, that I could repair the damage I'd done, put all the money back and pretend that the years of addiction had never happened. And day after day I'd find myself back in the venue, pouring coins into the slot or sliding notes into the mouth of the machine, and it would begin again.

When you're a poker machine addict, you quickly reach the point where the only way to dull the pain is to lose yourself in the game. Sit down, turn off and the world goes away. But the problems, the pain is still there, waiting for you to leave the venue... so you keep playing.

The industry talks about problem gamblers... what they think, how they feel, what their intentions are... but they're not talking about addicts like me, like I was. They're not talking about the many, many poker machine addicts I've spoken to in the past couple of years. They're not talking about the vast majority of Australian poker machine addicts who have no interest in any other form of gambling.

What they're counting on is our silence. Problem gamblers and poker machine addicts alike hide their addictions; society sneers at them, ridicules them, treats them with pity or contempt. Andrew Bolt, while claiming to hate poker machines, recently wrote about persuading the "poor and stupid" to quit; Anthony Ball constantly refers to problem gamblers as "irresponsible"; and there is a widespread belief that poker machine addicts "choose" to blow their money and destroy their lives.

Consequently, we keep quiet. We hide the addiction, conceal the harm, lie to everyone we know. Even when the addiction is in the past we maintain that silence, desperate to pretend it never happened. Australia may love a bet, but it hates those who can't stop.

What would a poker machine addict think of these reforms? Of $1 pokies and pre-commitment for the big-spending machines? Unlike the clubs, I won't pretend to speak for the thousands of Australians who have a problem with poker machines. I don't have that right... but I can tell you this.

All those mornings that I woke up vowing to change; all the times I couldn't look my partner in the eye; every time I lied to my family and friends; if I had just had the ability to put a limit on my spending there and then, a limit I couldn't ignore once I was sitting at a machine, I would have grabbed at it like a drowning man at a life saver. To be given a tool that I could use to exert some form of control over my addiction would have changed my life; may even have given me the strength to stop, on my own terms. Because like most poker machine addicts, I wanted to stop. I was looking for a way.

Don't let Clubs Australia tell you about problem gamblers. They don't know, and by shifting all of the responsibility on to the addicted, it's pretty clear they don't care. These reforms will not require all pokie players to register or get a card; they won't cost billions of dollars to implement; and special consideration has been given to small and regional venues. Casual punters will still be able to drop $20 on the pokies without pre-commitment, and those with serious or developing problems will have tools they can use to exert some control.

The reforms won't work?

Don't bet on it.

Tom Cummings is a former problem gambler who has turned his attention to gambling reform and the industry in general. He blogs, he tweets and he often annoys people.

Gambling addict racked up big debt to spite partner

Gambling addict racked up big debt to spite partner
A woman with a self-confessed gambling addiction racked up debt in her partner's name over five months to get back at him, Judge Kevin Phillips was told in the Invercargill District Court last week.

The 45-year-old beneficiary was given interim name suppression after being convicted on eight charges relating to dishonestly incurring debt with finance companies, totalling $16,585, and dishonestly using a cheque or credit card, between August 2010 and January this year.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Rob Mills said the woman told police she had run up the debts in her former partner's name to get back at him at a time their relationship was going through a rocky patch. She was remanded to October 19 for sentence.

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Limit may have saved addict

Limit may have saved addict
Geesche Jacobsen


A JUDGE has urged clubs to take greater moral responsibility to reduce problem gambling and supported daily gambling limits, which she said might have saved a woman from her addiction to poker machines.

The judge's remarks came during the sentencing of an illiterate Vietnamese woman who had become a drug courier after having been threatened by loan sharks to whom she owed $40,000.

Toai Thi Nguyen, 55, a mildly retarded mother-of-four from Canley Heights, was caught at Sydney Airport with more than 10 kilograms of pseudoephedrine, enough to produce methylamphetamine or ''ice'' with a street value of more than $1.25 million.


District Court Judge Robyn Tupman said Nguyen had suffered from depression and endured ''hardship, poverty and some abuse'' from her husband. Nevertheless she had provided ''excellent care'' for her children.

In 2003 her older children became aware of her visits to Star City casino and of her gambling addiction, and repaid her debts of $28,000. Nguyen promised never to gamble again and put herself on the casino's voluntary exclusion list.

But she relapsed in 2008 and regularly went to St John's Park Bowling Club in Cabramatta, the judge said. She accrued a new debt of $25,000 plus $15,000 in interest that she had no way of repaying.

Judge Tupman said: ''It must have been clear to those licensed premises that this offender … would not have been in a position to put $25,000 through poker machines. That this was allowed to occur by an organisation trusted by the community of NSW with a licence is a matter of concern.

''It is one of those cases where upper limits on daily gambling amounts might well have saved this woman from the situation in which she found herself. In the absence of safeguards like that, however, it seems to me that clubs such as this one owe a greater responsibility to those who they allow to play their poker machines … in order to discharge their general moral duty to the community.''

The jury had rejected Nguyen's defence that she had acted under duress and had no alternative, but the threats and the woman's life provided mitigating factors, Judge Tupman said.

The court heard Nguyen had never been to school and had come to Australia after fleeing Vietnam in the 1980s. Her IQ of 61 puts her in the bottom 1 per cent of the population, the court heard.

Judge Tupman jailed her for 2½ years.

‘Trusted’ manager stole from firm

‘Trusted’ manager stole £2,000 from firm

A PROPERTY manager and gambling addict who helped himself to cash from a struggling firm has been spared jail.


Mark Esdaile was allowed access to Sunderland-based Liddell Dunbar Ltd’s bank accounts after he was taken on by the firm in February.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that within months the 29-year-old, who has a conviction for stealing from a previous employer, had helped himself to more than £2,000 belonging to the company.

Esdaile, a partly-qualified accountant, of Hyde Street, South Shields, admitted theft.

The court heard he has a long-term gambling habit, which he is trying to overcome.

Mr Recorder William Lowe sentenced him to three months’ imprisonment, suspended for a year with supervision to enable him to get help to beat his addiction.

Esdaile was also ordered to carry out 240 hours’ unpaid work.

The judge said: “Offences of this type, as is the case here, do lead to consequences for the businesses with whom the theft takes place.

“I am told there has been loss of employment as a result of the position the company is in.”The court heard Esdaile’s bosses at the firm had loaned him £1,200 to buy a car and £1,560 to help with bills, on top of his £16,000 salary.

Prosecutor John Brennan told the court how Esdaile quickly became a trusted member of the team and even had access to the company directors’ personal accounts.

It was when a company meeting was called in June that Esdaile’s bosses started to realise something was wrong when he kept making excuses why he could not come to work.

Mr Brennan said: “The employer then received a long e-mail in which he explained he had actually been dishonest.

“He had taken £1,500 from a Barclaycard and diverted £740 due to another creditor to his own account.”

Esdaile admitted what he had done when he was arrested.

The court heard in December 2009 Esdaile was dealt with by the courts for stealing £1,600 from his previous bosses.

Paul Currer, defending, said: “His problems stem from gambling, a deep-seated addiction since he was 18.

“It is amusement arcades and roulette wheels.”

Mr Currer said Esdaile had sought professional help for his addiction in the past but started missing meetings when he got taken on by Liddell Dunbar Ltd.

Esdaile now has a job in telesales, where he has no access to other people’s money.

“Problem Gamblers Recruited into Drug Trade”

Investigative Unit: Gambling Addicts Twice Exploited
by Chad Hills

Not only are problem and pathologically addicted gamblers exploited by casinos and other gambling operations, now their desperate addiction is being exploited again to perform criminal drug trading in return for money. It’s a grievous story of one vice exploiting another vice; all the while, lives are being destroyed and criminal drug trafficking is multiplied.

ABC News Online Investigative Unit out of Australia released finding in their article, “Problem Gamblers Recruited into Drug Trade.”

“The investigation by the ABC’s News Online Investigative Unit found criminal networks are actively recruiting problem gamblers playing poker machines at pubs and clubs, to traffic heroin and cultivate cannabis.

“Of the more than 600 ethnic Vietnamese drug offenders surveyed, 72 per cent said they were enticed into the drug trade to pay their gambling debts.”

Here’s how gambling addiction feeds into criminal drug trafficking, according to the ABC News Online Investigative Unit:

•Organised crime networks observe gamblers in pubs and clubs and cultivate friendships
•They watch a problem gambler lose large sums of money and offer a cash loan
•They continue lending money and do not seek repayment
•They call in the loan once the debt is built up and cannot be repaid
•The problem gambler is asked to engage in criminal activity to repay the loan
•This week, police in Sydney’s south-west have continued to raid homes as part of Strike Force Zambesi, which has seized hydroponic cannabis worth an estimated street value of $25 million since March.
•So far, half of those interviewed by police blame gambling debts for their crimes.

"I turned myself in after gambling losses spiraled"

Polish Union embezzler Lisa Bleich: I turned myself in after gambling losses spiraled
By John S. Hausman Muskegon Chronicle

The woman charged with embezzling more than $10,000 from Muskegon's Polish Union admits she did it but says she turned herself in — as opposed to being caught by a treasurer doing the books, contrary to an earlier report.

In an interview Friday with a Chronicle reporter, Lisa Bleich (pronounced "Bly"), 51, of Muskegon blamed her embezzlement on a gambling addiction, for which she said she's now receiving help.

She said she spent all the stolen money on Club Keno games at the Polish Union, 1890 Henry. As bar manager, she had control of the lodge's money from bar and gambling revenues.

Bleich said she was always able to pay her bills, also contrary to an earlier report, but turned herself in to the lodge treasurer when she realized she would never be able to repay the lodge for the embezzled money she had lost gambling.

“I did embezzle money,” she said. “I gambled all of it. None of it left that building. I have a gambling addiction. I'm getting help now.

“I kept playing and playing because I was winning at one time,” Bleich said. “Then I kept losing. I was playing to try to win the money back. I guess I didn't realize what I was doing.”

She said she never meant to keep the Polish Union's money, just recoup her losses. “I plan on paying it back. I always intended on paying it back. I didn't rip them off; I mismanaged it,” she said.

“Yes, it's embezzlement, but I didn't mean to do anything wrong. I got out of control.”

She said the embezzlement went on for “just a couple of months” before she confessed and was fired Sept. 12. Bleich insisted she had never done such a thing before and said the total she took from the club was slightly more than $10,000.

She said her actions have ruined her life.

“I was devastated,” she said. “I never stole a penny from anybody in my entire life, and that Club Keno just grabbed me and took me away.

“Now I'm losing the respect of the people, I'm losing my house, I'm losing my car.”

Bleich was arraigned Monday in Muskegon County's 60th District Court on a charge of embezzlement by agent or trustee of at least $1,000 but less than $20,000. That's punishable by a maximum of five years in prison.

Chief Judge Harold F. Closz III set bond at $10,000, 10 percent, which Bleich posted, and scheduled a preliminary examination for next Thursday.

Massachusetts redux?

Negotiated behind closed doors? Tweaking to please opponents? Overstating revenues? Overstating low wage jobs? Ignoring 'social costs'?


Anti-gambling group wants to scrap expansion bill
By: Alex Degman

SPRINGFIELD – Proponents of a major Illinois gambling expansion bill are tweaking it to try “pleasing everyone,” but anti-gambling groups aren’t satisfied.

Little is known about the changes, other than they’ll likely be introduced in a few weeks during the fall Veto Session. State Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) says he wants to finalize the changes and discuss them with colleagues before making them public.

Anita Bedell, executive director of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction problems, says gambling revenues are deceptive, and is against any expansion – even with changes.

“They’re looking at revenue, and they inflate the figures, but they never consider the cost,” she says. “This is something that, with people in the economy the way it is, this is absolutely the wrong way for legislators to go with our state.”

Proponents say new gambling positions will create good-paying jobs and pad state coffers, but Bedell says some of that will be offset by social service costs for more gambling addicts.

Trump Casino Offers $25K Plastic Surgery Prize

You may need it after getting mugged in the parking garage if you survive.

Trump Casino Offers $25K Plastic Surgery Prize
By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.

The latest casino promotion in Atlantic City gives new meaning to "going bust."

The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort plans to give $25,000 worth of plastic surgery to a winner from a player's card contest. The lucky one can mix and match surgeries including breast enhancements, tummy tucks, liposuction and face lifts until the total hits $25,000.

"We wanted to change the face of a typical casino promotion, and with this one we are literally doing it," said Kathleen McSweeney, senior vice president of marketing for Trump Entertainment Resorts.

"Many people have something they want to change; a nip and tuck here, a lift there, but the cost of these procedures can be quite costly," McSweeney said. "This promotion will allow the winner the opportunity to get the procedures of their choice."

Ron Galella/Getty ImagesDonald Trump's Taj Mahal Casino, Atlantic... View Full Size Ron Galella/Getty ImagesDonald Trump's Taj Mahal Casino, Atlantic City, NJ, is pictured here in this file photo.
Indeed it is. According to the website infoplasticsurgery.com, which the casinos cite in their promotion, an arm lift can cost $5,000 to $6,500; Botox treatments range from $200 to $400 per area; breast augmentation surgery costs from $5,000 to $8,000; chin or cheek implants cost $3,000 to $4,500; and liposuction can range from $2,500 to $10,000.

A face-lift costs $7,000 to $9,000; nose surgery $5,000 to $6,000; and eyelid tucks $4,000 to $5,500 (upper and lower included).

"People often want this surgery but they're reluctant to spend their own money to do it," McSweeney said. "Whether it's kids' tuition, or the mortgage or they just don't have that kind of money, this is their opportunity to get it done."

Players can earn credits toward the contest from Oct. 2 through 29. The winner must be present with his or her player's card inserted into a machine when the prize is awarded on Oct. 29.

The winner can opt for the $25,000 prize in cash if he or she doesn't want the surgery.