Reidland Boosters Bingo - clearly something went wrong here
Handling of bingo funds investigated
Written by Administrator
Thursday, October 22 2009
By Bill Bartleman This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. '> bbartleman@paducahsun.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. --270.575.8651
An estimated $100,000 or more is unaccounted for in funds raised from charitable bingo to benefit Reidland High School, McCracken school board attorney Gorman Bradley said.
Bradley
Bradley said Wednesday that the discrepancy was discovered during a routine audit of high school funds and turned over to the Kentucky Department of Charitable Gaming.
Marty Hammons, deputy commissioner of charitable gaming, said the discrepancy is being investigated.
Bradley said the Reidland High School booster club maintains the account that held the unaccounted for funds.
"There were a large number of checks made out to 'cash' and we can't find any vouchers to document what it was used for," Bradley said. Little or no documentation of other expenses was found, he said.
Bradley said the unaccounted for funds are spread over at least three years. He said records prior to three years ago were reportedly destroyed in a fire at Jamestown Plazza in January 2006.
The first sign of a possible problem was the discovery of an unknown bank account in the school board's name that the boosters maintained, Bradley said. He said half of the bingo profits were placed in that account and the other half in the regular Reidland High School account. Also, a portion of the cash from each night's proceeds was paid to workers, rather than being deposited as is required.
Funds in the booster club account were shared with at least a half-dozen booster organizations representing athletic teams, the band and other groups, Bradley said.
Bradley said that all of the cash is now placed in the regular high school account, which has oversight and school officials control. Nothing indicates that anyone was stealing funds and problems may be because of poor recordkeeping, he said.
Leah Cooper Boggs, licensing and compliance director for the gaming commission, said she couldn't comment until the investigation is complete.
McCracken Commonwealth Attorney Dan Boaz wasn't aware of the questions about the funds but said he'll ask Sheriff Jon Hayden to also investigate.
Reidland sponsors bingo on Sunday and Tuesday nights at Jamestown Plazza on Clark's River Road. Bradley said profits from bingo and selling pull tabs average more than $5,000 per night, or more than $500,000 a year.
Bradley said that under new state regulations, the school board is required to audit all school accounts. Auditors discovered problems in September when reviewing Reidland's account for the first time. No problems were detected at other county schools.
Bradley said at least three possible violations of charitable gaming laws were found during the Reidland audit: Bingo profits were placed in two accounts when state regulations allow only one account; people were paid to work when state law said all bingo workers must be volunteers; and free bingo game cards were given to people celebrating birthdays and other special events.
Hammons said punishment for violations of gaming laws range from suspending the charitable gaming license to felony criminal charges if funds were misappropriated.
Contact Bill Bartleman, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8651.
School board to review practice
McCracken school Superintendent Tim Heller doesn't recall the school board ever being asked to approve charitable bingo as a method of raising funds.
"But we are aware that it is done by booster clubs," said Heller, superintendent for nearly 12 years.
In light of questions raised about the booster club at Reidland High School's handling of bingo funds, Heller said the school board will review the practice.
"Once the investigation is over, we'll make sure safeguards are in place to prevent problems," Heller said. "Every fundraising intended to benefit school children should come through the board."
State records show that Reidland and Lone Oak high schools have charitable gaming licenses that allow them to sponsor bingo games and sell pull tabs.
In McCracken County 87,028 people attended all bingo events in 2007, the latest year for which figures are available. That was 12th highest in the state.
Also in 2007, bingo players in McCracken County won $2.6 million from bingo and $7.2 million from pull tabs.
No records were available showing how much individual groups made.
--- Bill Bartleman
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