SEARCH NEWS:

 

State Lotteries Under More Scrutiny

UNITED STATES – As reported by the Denver Post: "In under three months' time, Colorado's Lottery director resigned under pressure, Minnesota's lottery director committed suicide after questions from auditors, and Nebraska's lottery chief was put on leave during a probe.

"Just over a year ago, Oregon's lottery director resigned after an audit highlighted nearly $800,000 wasted in administrative expenses, and this past summer, top lottery officials in Florida were fired after an investigation discovered they accepted meals and gifts with vendors doing business with the lottery.

"…One reason for the rash of investigations may be states seeking to save money during tough economic times and discovering problems during audits. It also stems, some experts said, from state workers feeling more comfortable whistle-blowing in wake of the Enron scandal, in which workers were labeled heroes for speaking out about scrambled corporate books.

"In the Florida, Nebraska and Colorado cases, lottery probes were launched after officials were tipped off by workers on the inside.

"…The common thread in many of these states' cases is the gifts, dinners and travel that many vendors seeking multimillion-dollar contracts bestow on lottery officials.

"It is no wonder, one top lottery analyst said, that companies wine and dine lottery officials and dote on them by presenting birthday gifts and thoughtful knickknacks on holidays, as they frequently did in Colorado: Lotteries nationwide dole out extended, multimillion-dollar contracts for advertising, for public relations and, most importantly, to run the lotto games that bring in the cash.

"…A glimpse into how these contracts have been won in the past, though, can shed some light into how aggressive the companies can be…"

< Gaming News