I just got it this morning. glad you are home and safe. On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 7:58 PM, Keith In Tampa <[email protected]>wrote:
> Hey Travis, > > I just got back home to Tampa, (after traveling for over 22 hours! Ugh!) > and I hadn't seen this. Thanks for sharing; > > Keith > > On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 3:43 PM, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> >> **** >> >> http://news.yahoo.com/fla-politician-resigns-57-charged-212723376.html ** >> ** >> >> ** ** >> >> *Fla. politician resigns, 57 charged in scandal* >> >> *Florida lieutenant governor resigns, 57 others charged in gambling >> scandal involving charity* >> >> *By Mike Schneider, Associated Press | Associated Press – 12 hrs ago***** >> >> Associated Press - **** >> >> Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll speaks about the 1,578-acre land >> acquisition for Camp Blanding in Clay County in front of the Florida >> Cabinet Thursday, …more* *March 7, 2013, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, >> Fla. The $2.1-million land purchase, with $1.5 million coming from the U.S. >> Department of Defense, was approved. (AP Photo/Phil Sears) less* ***** >> >> ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Florida's lieutenant governor resigned and nearly >> 60 other people were charged in a scandal involving a purported veterans >> charity that authorities said Wednesday was a front for a $300 million >> gambling operation. **** >> >> The organization, Allied Veterans of the World, runs nearly 50 Internet >> parlors with computerized slot machine-style games, which have come under >> scrutiny in Florida but are in a gray legal area. **** >> >> Even so, investigators said the charity was a fraud and executives gave >> precious little to veterans while lavishing millions on themselves, >> spending it on boats, beachfront condos and Maseratis, Ferraris and >> Porsches. **** >> >> Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi called the alleged scam "callous" and >> "despicable" and said it "insults every American who ever wore a military >> uniform." **** >> >> Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll was not among those charged but resigned a day >> after she was questioned by investigators. **** >> >> The public relations firm she co-owned, 3 N&JC, did work for St. >> Augustine-based Allied Veterans. A Navy veteran who served in the Gulf War, >> Carroll also appeared in a TV ad in 2011 promoting the organization's work >> on behalf of veterans and their families. **** >> >> Authorities refused to discuss any ties between the 53-year-old >> Republican and the investigation. Her aides had no comment. **** >> >> Carroll said in a statement Wednesday that neither she nor the public >> relations firm was targeted in the probe, and she stepped down so that her >> ties to the organization would not be a distraction for Republican Gov. >> Rick Scott's administration. **** >> >> The investigation involved 57 arrest warrants and 54 search warrants >> issued in Florida and five other states: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, >> Nevada and Pennsylvania. As of midafternoon, 49 people had been arrested. >> Allied Veterans' 49 parlors in Florida were raided and shut down. **** >> >> Authorities said they seized about 300 bank accounts containing $64.7 >> million, as well as sports cars and other property. **** >> >> Bondi said that when charges are formally filed next week they will >> include racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering and possession of slot >> machines. **** >> >> "It is shameful that Allied Veterans of the World allegedly attempted to >> use the guise of charitable organization to help veterans in order to lend >> credibility to this $300 million gambling scheme," she said. **** >> >> A telephone number listed for Allied Veterans was disconnected. Emails to >> an address on the group's website were not returned. The address Allied >> listed as its headquarters appeared abandoned, the long, gray cinder-block >> building bare inside. **** >> >> Gerald Bailey, commissioner of Florida's Department of Law Enforcement, >> said the arrests are only the first wave of the investigation and the >> second wave will look at the "large sums" of money spent on lobbying and >> donations to political campaigns. He would not give details. **** >> >> Allied Veterans was founded in 1979 and evolved from a charitable >> organization that ran bingo games and held bake sales for veterans to a >> group suspected of widespread illegal gambling around Florida, according to >> an Internal Revenue Service affidavit. The IRS pronounced the charity a >> fraud. **** >> >> One of those arrested, Jacksonville lawyer Kelly Mathis, was identified >> by authorities as the mastermind of the scheme. He allegedly made about $6 >> million from the operation. **** >> >> A woman who answered the phone at Mathis' law firm said no one was >> available to talk about his arrest. **** >> >> From 2007 to early 2012, investigators said, they found evidence of >> nearly $6 million in what appear to be charitable donations by Allied >> Veterans. That was only about 2 percent of the more than $290 million made >> from gambling during that period, they said. **** >> >> Most of the money went to for-profit companies and the operators of >> Allied Veterans, authorities said. **** >> >> To play games at one of the Internet cafes, a customer gets a prepaid >> card and then goes to a computer. The games, with spinning wheels similar >> to slot machines, have names such as "Captain Cash," ''Lucky Shamrocks" and >> "Money Bunny." Winners go back to a cashier with their cards and cash out. >> **** >> >> Each of the locations had rows of computers and a big sign that read: >> "This is not a gaming establishment." On the walls were photos of company >> executives making donations and letters of recognition from some of the >> charities that supposedly benefited. **** >> >> Prosecutions of similar electronic gaming parlors have had mixed results >> in Florida courts, with owners saying they fall under a sweepstakes law, >> much like a fast-food restaurant's contest. Prosecutors have said they are >> slot machines, which are illegal except at the South Florida horse and dog >> tracks and American Indian casinos. **** >> >> In Anadarko, Okla., the owner of International Internet Technologies, a >> company accused of supplying the cafes with software, was arrested along >> with his wife. Chase Egan Burns, 37, and Kristin Burns, 38, face charges >> including racketeering and conspiracy. **** >> >> International Internet Technologies made $63 million from the Florida >> operation from 2007 to 2010, according to the IRS. **** >> >> "What we do is legal," Chase Burns told The Oklahoman on Monday. **** >> >> Carroll served 20 years in the Navy, working as a jet mechanic before >> retiring as a lieutenant commander. She was elected Florida's first black >> lieutenant governor in 2010, winning office as Scott's running mate. She is >> also a former executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans' >> Affairs. **** >> >> A married mother of three, Carroll has a son who plays for the Miami >> Dolphins. **** >> >> Carroll became embroiled in a short-lived scandal last year when a fired >> staffer claimed that she walked in on Carroll and a female aide in a >> compromising position. Carroll denied that. **** >> >> She became the brunt of late-night talk show hosts after she told a TV >> station that black women who look like her "don't engage in relationships >> like that." She later apologized for any implication that black lesbians >> are unattractive.**** >> >> ** ** >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> -- >> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. >> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum >> >> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ >> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. >> * Read the latest breaking news, and more. >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "PoliticalForum" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
