Fla. veterans charity probe to next focus on campaign money
By
GARY FINEOUT and MIKE SCHNEIDER
|
The Associated Press
|
Published:
March 14, 2013
The
entrance to a closed-down and vacant Internet Cafe run by Allied Veterans is
seen Wednesday, March 13, 2013, in Casselberry, Fla. Florida's lieutenant
governor resigned and nearly 60 other people were charged in a widening scandal
of a purported veterans charity that authorities said was a $300 million front
for illegal gambling.
John
Raoux/AP
ORLANDO,
Fla. — The next phase of an investigation into a veterans charity accused of
being a front for a $300 million gambling operation will focus on the hundreds
of thousands of dollars spent on lobbying and campaigns donations, authorities
said.
Nearly
60 people were charged in the probe so far and Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll
stepped down after being questioned by investigators. While authorities wouldn't
talk specifics Wednesday, records showed the Florida-based charity Allied
Veterans of the World and another company involved in the alleged fraud have
spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying and political campaigns in
Florida.
Allied
Veterans ran nearly 50 Internet parlors with computerized slot machine-style
games and gave little to veterans, instead lavishing millions on charity
leaders, spending it on boats, beachfront condos and Maseratis, Ferraris and
Porsches, authorities said.
From
2007 to early 2012, investigators said they found evidence of nearly $6 million
in what appeared to be charitable donations — only about 2 percent of the nearly
$300 million made from gambling during that period.
Florida
Attorney General Pam Bondi called the alleged scam "callous" and "despicable"
and said it "insults every American who ever wore a military
uniform."
Carroll
was not charged with any wrongdoing. A public relations firm she once co-owned,
3 N& JC, did work for 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.
Carroll
said in a statement 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.
"I
have and will continue to fully cooperate with any investigation," Carroll
said.
The
investigation involved 57 arrest warrants and 54 search warrants issued in
Florida and five other states: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Nevada and
Pennsylvania. At least 49 people were arrested; several defendants were to make
their first appearance Thursday in Seminole County
Court.
Bondi
said that when charges are formally filed next week, they will include
racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering and possession of slot
machines.
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.
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.
Florida
Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said the arrests were
only the first wave. The second part of the investigation will focus on
political contributions Allied Veterans made and gambling centers not operated
by the charity.
"Large
sums of money have been spent on lobbying efforts and donations to political
campaigns," Bailey said.
Records
showed Allied Veterans paid at least $490,000 to Florida lobbyists between 2009
and 2012. International Internet Technologies, the software company that
investigators said created the products used at the gambling centers, spent more
than $1.2 million on Florida lobbyists during that same period. All of
International Internet Technologies' Florida lobbyists resigned
Wednesday.
Florida
campaign records also showed International Internet Technologies has poured in
nearly $500,000 into campaign accounts since 2009, including more than $230,000
to the Republican Party of Florida and $60,000 to the Florida Democratic
Party.
Donations
have gone to political committees affiliated with legislators and the direct
campaign accounts of dozens of legislators, including current Florida House
Speaker Will Weatherford.
Weatherford
received a check for $500 in 2011, although he voted last year to ban the types
of storefront operations.
Weatherford
said Wednesday he has not talked with companies affiliated with the industry in
months since he is opposed to them. He also said the Republican Party should
consider returning any money it accepted from International Internet
Technologies.
A
Democratic Party spokeswoman said it was conducting an "up and down review of
all contributions received."
Kelly
Mathis, a Jacksonville lawyer who investigators say was at the center of Allied
Veterans' operations, has given $5,145 since 2008, including nearly $2,000 to
the Republican Party of Florida in late 2010 and the rest to state legislators.
His law firm contributed another $5,260 to legislators and
judges.
A
woman who answered the phone at Mathis' law firm said no one was available to
talk about his arrest.
Conflicting
legislation last year called for regulating the Internet parlors or banning them
outright. An impasse resulted in nothing getting passed, yet leaders were
already talking about pushing ahead to quickly outlaw
them.
"These
machines and these Internet cafes need to be closed down," Weatherford said. "We
believe they are acting illegally. The House is not waiting very long to move
forward."
How
deep Allied Veterans' political influence is has yet to be fully understood. But
even Bondi, the attorney general, admitted to having her photo taken with one of
the leaders, Jerry Bass.
"I met
him. I actually believe I took a picture with him while this investigation was
pending," Bondi said at a news conference announcing the arrests. "But what am I
going to say, 'Sorry, I can't take a picture with you. You're under
investigation?'"
Bass
has been arrested and no one returned a telephone call to his
home.
Associated
Press writers Curt Anderson and Kelli Kennedy in Miami; Jeff Donn in Plymouth,
Mass.; Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Kyle Hightower in Sanford, Fla.; Tim
Talley in Anadarko, Okla. and Russ Bynum in Jacksonville, Fla., contributed to
this report.