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Massachusetts Dog Track Foes Launch Attack Against State Treasurer

"The ad, paid for by Grey2K USA with an initial buy of $6,500, echoes allegations leveled two weeks ago by state Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci, who issued a report accusing O'Brien of failing to crack down on tax evasion among lottery winners.

"DeNucci said in the audit that the Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park should not be allowed to cash winning tickets worth up to $50,000 - other lottery agents are capped at paying out $600 cash - because it allows professional gamblers to operate tax evasion schemes there. DeNucci believes that professional gamblers cash tickets for other lottery winners at the track and then avoid paying taxes on the winnings by offsetting the jackpots with their other gambling losses.

"…O'Brien's campaign spokesman, Adrian Durbin, said the ad is inaccurate and called on Grey2K USA to pull the spot. After a 1999 Lottery audit, O'Brien began working with the Department of Revenue and the IRS to report frequent winners and help identify possible tax cheats, he said. The special arrangement with the racetrack has been in place since 1987 - long before she became treasurer - and has been maintained as a convenience to lottery players, Durbin said.

"…O'Brien aides suggested that Warren E. Tolman, one of O'Brien's rivals for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, was behind the ads. Andrew Upton, who was Grey2K's attorney during the failed 2000 ballot initiative to ban greyhound racing in Massachusetts, is a former aide to Tolman and is now an adviser to his campaign…"

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