Corruption

Mass. Lottery Officials Knew and Encouraged Manipulation of Game

The Boston Globe exposed that just three groups of bettors accounted for most of the winning tickets statewide for the lottery game Cash WinFall. Massachusetts Lottery officials initially said they were surprised to learn that just a handful of gamblers had taken over the $2 games and announced new rules to limit the dominance of sophisticated bettors.

Upon further investigation, the Globe “has found that lottery managers for years allowed and some say even encouraged the groups to manipulate the game, Cash WinFall. They provided extra ticket machines and printers to accommodate the biggest player, a retired store owner from Michigan, so he could buy more tickets faster. Gerry Selbee, whose gambling group spent millions of dollars on the game, said the regional director in Western Massachusetts personally thanked him for propping up flat lottery sales.”

Mass. Lottery Officials Helped High Rollers See Windfalls

CkirbyMass. Lottery Officials Knew and Encouraged Manipulation of Game
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Alabama Bribery Scandal Centers on Gambling Operators

In October of 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted eleven people in Alabama accused of involvement in a gambling vote-buying scandal. The Justice Department unveiled an indictment accusing the owners of two of Alabama’s largest casinos, four state senators and several lobbyists of a scheme to buy and sell votes in the Legislature. One defendant has pleaded guilty to offering a senator $2 million to vote for a bill to keep the state’s bingo machines operating. Below is a press release from the Justice Department, a copy of the indictment and a list of those indicted.

U.S. DOJ Press Release Alabama Gambling Vote Buying

Alabama Gambling Vote Buying Indictment

List of Indictments in AL Gambling Vote Buying Case

CkirbyAlabama Bribery Scandal Centers on Gambling Operators
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Report spotlights how gambling interests literally buy the ballot measure process across the US

The massive expansion of predatory gambling over the last twenty years came as the result of gambling interests spending hundreds of millions of dollars under the guise of “Let the People Vote.” What they really meant was “Let Us Buy the Vote!” In 2008, nine states considered whether to replace declining revenues with money from predatory gambling. “Never a Sure Bet,” a report from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, examines the money behind these ballot measures. Gambling proponents significantly outraised opponents in each of the states they were successful in, ranging from about 2 to 1 in California to 1,734 to 1 in Colorado. An examination of the business sectors behind the measures shows that Indian casino tribes gave $157.4 million, more than half (57 percent) of all the money. Non-tribal gambling interests were the next-largest donors, giving $104.5 million (38 percent). Combined, these interests gave 96 percent of all money raised around the measures.

Never A Sure Bet Report from National Institute on Money in State Politics

LesReport spotlights how gambling interests literally buy the ballot measure process across the US
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Gambling Interests are the Most Powerful Political Force in America Today

Six out of ten of the top funders of political causes nationwide are casino interests, according to analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics (2007 and 2008 cycle.)  For more information about how much money gambling interests spend to influence our political process, please visit the Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org and see their Influence and Lobbying section as well as their National Donor Profiles section.

LesGambling Interests are the Most Powerful Political Force in America Today
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