Vets Charity Probe to Next Focus on Campaign Money

Vets Charity Probe to Next Focus on Campaign Money
Mar 14, 2013
Associated Press
by Mike Schneider and Gary Fineout

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."
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