A Bingo Scandal Hits At Home.

[00:00:04] It's not a game, it's a ranch thing. Hello, and welcome to The Broke Bingo Addict. This is a podcast that ventures through the wild and crazy world of bingo. This is much more than your grandmother's bingo. My name's Shari, and welcome to this week's episode, which as always is for entertainment purposes only. Hi, everybody, and welcome to this week's episode of The Broke Bingo Addict.

[00:00:32] You know, at the start of all of these episodes, I have a little introduction that includes the phrase, this is much more than your grandmother's bingo. And current events have made that statement so true, okay? Recently, one of the bingo halls that I like to go to, one of the ones that I really like, was caught up in a scandal. And I'm not talking a little scandal. I'm talking about the scandal that Barney Fife talks about on The Andy Griffith Show.

[00:01:02] This was big, big, big, big, big, big scandal, all right? Because we're all used to the little things. We're all used to people having fights over seats. We're all used to people saying that a certain bingo caller only calls numbers for people that he likes. I've actually had a bingo manager tell me that there are ways that people cheat, which is why there are certain rules at places where you have to use a dauber or you can't use a pen or just a variety of rules that I think that they try to use to keep people from cheating.

[00:01:31] So those are kind of things that are normal kind of scandals that are happening. But like I said, this was a big scandal. And I was just minding my own business one day, just sitting at home. And then I received a text message from a friend that said, did you hear what happened? That's crazy. And I'm like, oh, my God, no, what happened? And the next thing I get this article that's sent to me into the text. And I click on the article, which says,

[00:01:57] Feds arrest LA homelessness nonprofit executive in $7.5 million fraud takedown. And I'm like, oh, no, no, this can't possibly be happening. It was like, oh, my gosh, this is insane. So, of course, you know, you click on the article so you have to read what's saying. And I guess it's these people who got all this money.

[00:02:23] And as part of the money laundering scheme, they bought some businesses. And one of the businesses that they bought was the bingo hall that I play at, as well as a restaurant that's located right next door to the bingo hall. So I want to be very clear. It's my understanding that it's not the bingo hall itself. It's not the restaurant itself. It's the people who purchased them as a method to do money laundering that are being accused. And so I was just absolutely freaking out.

[00:02:52] First of all, I was getting ready to go play bingo at this place, because at that point, I had a $50 credit that I wanted to use that weekend. So I was like, please don't close this place down. Please don't close this place down. So that was my first very, very selfish thought that I had when I saw this information. And then the second response was, hey, I know these people now. I'm friends with a lot of the people who work there now, and certainly a lot of the people who go there to play because it's convenient for them, because they can't go to other places because they're too far away for them.

[00:03:20] And so I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is going to impact an awful lot of people who had absolutely nothing to do with this, you know? So I'm really kind of freaked out about it and definitely wanted to get some more information. So I go in and I look in the article. And then it's funny because more people start seeing this thing and people are calling me. You know, my other friends were actually not calling. We're texting back and forth and we're like, what the hell is going on? And when you open it up, I actually went to Google to see if I get some more information.

[00:03:46] And that's where it really gets creepy because this is absolutely not just a Los Angeles issue. When you Google it, you get newspaper articles from the New York Post. There's information about it on the DOJ website. It's like, oh, my God, this is huge. This is absolutely huge. And we're freaked out. So at the time, you know, I wasn't at the bingo hall when I was finding this out.

[00:04:11] So we had to go later that night because, like I said, I was playing there and I wasn't going to say anything. I didn't know how to approach it. First of all, I was just happy it was open that night because I wasn't sure whether that was going to be the case or not. But I was happy to go there. I was happy I was going to be able to play. But like I said, I didn't know how to approach it. And I didn't want to be like this little gossipy person or anything. But eventually I heard other people kind of talking about it. There was even a joke. Some people were saying, I hope we don't get raided. I actually called a friend.

[00:04:41] I said, OK, let's make sure we got some bail money just in case something happens like that. But could you imagine? Could you imagine you go to play bingo at your regular little bingo hall? You're just going to go to have fun. And the next thing you know, the feds are coming in, seizing everything, taking all the money, you know, grabbing up whatever they can for evidence. And, you know, you get hauled off to jail. Well, not what people would have on their bingo cards for that night. So anyway, I did have the opportunity finally to see the manager. And I, you know, just kind of quickly said, you know, what are the odds?

[00:05:11] What's going on here? Is this going to impact you guys to a point where you're going to have to close down or anything? So this was right when everything was happening. So her response was, no, they're fine. You know, thanks for asking and everything. But I still have to wonder, even though they are fine now, this is a big deal. Like I said, this is on the freaking DOJ. This is some major fraud happening. And even though these people are wonderful people, they run a wonderful bingo game and have nothing to do with this.

[00:05:39] You're still technically connected to these people. And I could see in the foreseeable future where they would say, you know, the government likes to get their money back when anything like this is happening. So I could see where they would close this place down. Absolutely not trying to be a negative Nelly because, like I said, I love this place. It's one of the few places. In fact, it's not one of the few. It's the only place that's within, you know, minutes of my home that I can get to. So it's not an issue of driving for God knows how long on the freeway to get someplace.

[00:06:07] Not only to go to bingo, but when bingo's over to get home. This place is great because I can be home in a matter of minutes after I've finished playing. So I mentioned before in some earlier posts that, you know, when this place first got started, there were definitely some bumps in the road. Okay. Didn't like some of the pricing that was going on. Didn't like the situation with the food. There were some issues with the time that it started and the time that it ended, some of the games and whatnot. But, you know, they really paid attention to what everybody said.

[00:06:37] And they've made a big effort to make things much more amenable to everybody. So it's really now my go-to spot when I want to go play bingo. Certainly go to a lot of other places and really enjoy them too. But this is just so convenient and so well run at this point that I want to really give it a lot of credit. So in case you're wondering what the place is, this is called House Bingo. Some people call it House LAX. And the restaurant right next door to it is called 675. And I like that restaurant too.

[00:07:06] It's very upper scale. Okay. So dress nicely if you're going to go there. That's the one thing that was really funny when we were bingo players at the beginning because we're not really dressing up to play bingo. So, you know, you'd go there and they'd let you order food, but you could not stay. You can get your food, but you have to go. So anyways, I hate to see them caught up into this scandal as well because that's a really nice restaurant.

[00:07:32] And actually the thing is that now what the bingo place has done in connection to the restaurant is that they will let you order food from there and they will deliver it to your table. I'm not trying to say they didn't want us going in there looking all tacky, but that's a really nice system that they've created is that you can order food from the restaurant. They'll give you a little number like they do in places. You put it on your table. And while you're playing bingo, somebody's going to come and they're just going to deliver the food to you so you don't have to worry about it.

[00:07:58] The selection isn't huge, but it's good and it's very reasonably priced. So I really like that too. So again, I'm really hoping and praying that when all is said and done, that the people who are responsible for doing this get charged, get prosecuted and, you know, pay the dues that they're required to pay for doing this kind of thing. And ultimately, I hope what happens is that somebody else is put in charge to the bingo club and the restaurant or like it's sold to somebody else or whatever.

[00:08:24] However, they handle those things so that these people who are just trying to run a decent business go unscathed from the situation, other than the fact that this was put in every newspaper, I think, across the country. But you know what? This isn't the only major scandal that's happened in bingo. It's not even the only major scandal that's happened in bingo this year. Well, technically, it was just the sentencing that took place this year.

[00:08:49] The actual fraud and stuff was happening between 2015 and 2021, okay? This happened on Guam. And just for reference sake, I lived on Guam when my father was in the military. My family lived on Guam when I was younger and a couple of the best years of my life. So I really enjoyed being there. So it hurts me that something like this happened in a place that I really loved and have incredibly fond memories of.

[00:09:16] So let me read you specifically what it says so I get all these details correct. Okay. The Guam bingo scandal. And Haffa Day Bingo. Haffa Day means hello, hi, all that kind of good stuff. Kind of like aloha and everything in Hawaii. So Haffa Day. The operation at the center of the case was the Haffa Day Bingo and I cannot say it, T-A-M-U-N-I-N-G Guam, associated with the Guam Shrine Club.

[00:09:43] The basic story is particularly striking because players apparently believed they were doing something good while they were playing. The Guam Shrine Club. Ooh, hard to say. The Guam Shrine Club represented that bingo proceeds would help pay transportation expenses for children and a parent or guardian traveling to Shriners' medical care in Hawaii. Now, according to federal prosecutors, that representation was used to attract bingo patrons, right?

[00:10:11] So you're conning people to come there and play because you're doing something for good. I wonder if that's what they're saying about house bingo because that's supposed to be helping the homeless. But anyway, federal evidence showed that from March 2015 through December 31st, 2021, the operation generated approximately $34 million in gross bingo proceeds.

[00:10:34] Prosecutors said approximately $10,750,000 in net proceeds that should have gone toward the charitable purpose were instead diverted and laundered for personal gain. Okay, so here's the part that should really resonate. According to Guam Shrine Club Bank, oh God, I hate saying that. That's hard.

[00:10:57] Only about $140,000 of bingo proceeds were used for the Aloha Shriners and air transportation during that time period. In 2021, federal prosecutors say none of the bingo proceeds were used for the charitable purpose. So this just wasn't people taking a little off the top, you know, doing a little bit of skimming.

[00:11:17] These people took a buttload of money from the bingo hall and absolutely did not care about the charitable purpose that it was intended for. So ultimately, the three central defendants were convicted by a jury in Guam on May 2025. The actual sentence took place in May of 2026, and one of them, one of them got a whopping 22-year prison sentence.

[00:11:45] Okay, so gosh knows, I hope it was worth it. Just crazy. But again, big scandals happen in bingo. These happened recently, but they are certainly not alone. I found out that there are definitely other bingo scandals that have happened in the past. Another one that happened in California is called the legendary, the legendary Barona bingo scandal.

[00:12:12] That happened in California in 1985-86. Okay, back in 1985, the high-stakes bingo operation at the Barona Indian Reservation, which was near San Diego, became the subject of a major investigation into fixed bingo games. Okay, authorities allege that certain players called shills were planted in the audience and predetermined to win big prizes.

[00:12:37] A raid involved about 60 law enforcement officers and was conducted at the bingo hall in December of 1985. Oh, it gets better. The bingo manager, his name was Stuart Siegel, eventually admitted that he had rigged games, in which accomplices won nearly $140,000 in cash prizes. The alleged winners were supposed to return much of the money to the people behind the scheme. Siegel eventually pleaded guilty to grand theft.

[00:13:06] So that's what I think. If you're going to cheat, if you're going to see somebody in the audience that's cheating, I don't see how they can cheat without the assistance of the company. Now, I guess there are ways, because I know, like I said, Mike, my friend, has certainly tried to keep people from cheating. I guess there's some way you can scratch out this or that, whatever. But it just seems kind of difficult to me. But obviously, there's a way, because people find somehow some way to do it. Now, also in the 1980s, but not in California,

[00:13:37] the Tennessee had something called the Rocky Top Bingo Scandal. All right, this is probably one of the biggest historical bingo scandals in the terms of a bingo industry connected to government corruption. In the 1980s, Tennessee allowed charitable bingo, and this system became so badly corrupted that the FBI launched Operation Rocky Top. The investigation uncovered allegations involving bogus charities, illegal bingo operations,

[00:14:05] bingo licenses, bribes to public officials. Regulators who were allegedly paid to look the other way, and money being fundled back to politicians. Boy, these people were serious about this. So a Tennessee legislator, Randy McNally, does that make you think of the maps and stuff? Became a corroborating witness and wore a wire during the investigations.

[00:14:29] The FBI says that the broader investigation produced numerous convictions and guilty pleas involving Tennessee public officials. Contemporary reporting gives you a sense of how widespread the problem had become. 1989 Los Angeles Times reports that a state study found that only 2%, 2% of the $47.6 million collected by bingo operators in Tennessee in 1988 actually went to charity.

[00:14:56] People are just absolute freaking scum. And then it says, here's the really dramatic part. The scandal became intertwined with Tennessee politics and ultimately helped bring about major changes in the state's approach to charitable bingo. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that bingo violated the state's constitutional prohibition of lotteries. Charities protested because they depended on bingo revenues.

[00:15:23] There were also tragic events surrounding the investigation, including the 1989 suicide of Tennessee Secretary of State Gentry Cromwell, let me say that G-E-N-T-R-Y-C-R-O-W-E-L-L, who had testified before federal grand juries. Contemporary reports stressed that Cromwell himself had not been implicated in the scandal. So, not sure that his death had anything to do with the wrongdoing.

[00:15:49] Just seemed to be, I guess, a suspicious, timely event that happened. So, that was in Tennessee. But I guess there was also something coming back up in Florida. Florida had something called the racetrack bingo scandal. So, in Fort Walden Beach, Florida, Larry and Dixie Messino operated racetrack bingo, which purported to conduct bingo for local charities. Boy, these poor local charities are really getting scammed. We've got to get better at doing bookkeeping here, people.

[00:16:19] So, federal prosecutors eventually established that between 2006 and 2015, the operation generated millions of dollars that were improperly retained rather than distributed, according to Florida's charitable bingo rules. The Messinos were convicted in 2018, and the federal government eventually ordered the forfeiture of approximately $5.8 million. Okay?

[00:16:43] It's just really interesting how much money is being taken away from these charities and that people seem not to have a problem with it. But I'm glad that it's being brought up. I'm glad that the people who were doing this to house bingo or were trying to use house bingo, I'm glad that they were caught. And I'm hoping that this gets all, like I said previously, resolved in a manner that doesn't impact the bingo hall or the restaurant connected to it. So, anyway, that's it for this week's episode of The Broke Bingo Addict.

[00:17:13] I hope you got some information you didn't know about and found it interesting. And as always, I hope you'll come back for our next episode. In the meantime, take care. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.