Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 15, 1990 TAG: 9004150260
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
No one regulated the games, and no one questioned where the money went.
All that may be changing.
Last month, for the first time in recent years, two bingo operators were charged with violating state laws that govern the charitable fund-raisers.
Although the charges were taken under advisement at a hearing last week in Roanoke General District Court, court officials characterized the case as a "warning shot" intended to show bingo operators that future violations will not be tolerated.
There are other signs that bingo - an often unnoticed form of legalized gambling conducted nightly in cigarette smoke-filled parlors - is coming under increased scrutiny.
Soon after the charges were filed, City Councilman David Bowers called for an audit of the city's bingo operations to investigate allegations of widespread violations and possible fraud.
And the commonwealth's attorney's office is drafting a proposed city ordinance designed to make it easier for local officials to enforce bingo laws.
"Everybody seems to be in agreement that there are abuses in the way bingo games are run right now," Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said. "The only way to get a grip on that is to toughen up the rules and regulations."
Bingo, once envisioned by state lawmakers as an easy way to raise money for philanthropies, has become a big business in Roanoke.
In 1989, 21 organizations licensed to hold bingo games grossed a total of $1,946,372, according to annual financial reports they are required to file in the city commissioner of revenue's office.
But after the groups paid out more than $1.8 million in reported operating expenses, just $76,342 was left for charity, according to the reports.
No one seems to know if those figures are accurate. That's because no one has ever checked.
"I think that up to this point, everything that has been written on those forms has been accepted at face value," Caldwell said.
Meanwhile, the bingo business continues to boom.
Bingo halls advertise in the yellow pages, promote jackpot prizes with fliers and brochures and often engage in cutthroat competition for the players' dollars - all in the name of charity.
"Over the years, bingo more and more has become a battle between bingo hall operators, and somewhere we've lost sight of the original goal, which is to make money for charity," Caldwell said.
Part of the problem in Roanoke is the lack of a local ordinance that spells out the law and designates who is responsible for enforcing it. As a result, the only regulations bingo games fall under is a set of state laws that court officials say contains many loopholes and ambiguities.
"They're prosecuting these cases under what is essentially a sloppy set of laws," said Roanoke defense attorney Gary Lumsden, who represented the bingo sponsors in court last week.
Caldwell agrees that the laws are so vague that enforcing them is almost impossible. "I could not in good faith ask the Police Department to go out and investigate bingo under the current laws, because it would be like chasing their tails," he said.
After a trip to Richmond to examine that city's bingo ordinance, Caldwell and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom are drafting an ordinance that will be presented to City Council in several months. Findings of the audit requested by Bowers are to be released about the same time.
The proposed ordinance is expected to establish a procedure to regularly and stringently audit proceeds from the games. A firm set of rules on how to run the operations will also be included.
As the state law is now written, officials say, operators can often find loopholes to jump through.
Two examples:
State law mandates that the games be run only by members of the sponsoring organization, with no hands-on involvement by the bingo hall operator. But anyone who helps conduct the games is often dubbed a "volunteer member" of the club simply for helping out.
And to get around a law that prohibits no more than two days of bingo games per week in a single building, some operators have constructed adjacent buildings and run up to six games a week on a rotating basis.
Bingo permits in Roanoke have been issued to such groups as Special Olympics, the American Cancer Society, Disabled American Veterans, and other social, religious and community groups. However, permits have also been issued to organizations with more questionable ties to philanthropy.
Once they receive a permit, the groups often pay a fee to a bingo parlor for the use of the building and equipment.
In many cases, Caldwell said, charitable organizations are content to take their share of the earnings from the building owner without questioning how the games are run.
"I think it's clear that many organizations turn their heads to what's going on because a little bit of money is better than no money at all," he said.
With many of the clubs playing a limited role in the day-to-day operation of the games, some argue that the bingo hall owners are left in a position where they could easily skim profits from the game receipts.
An anonymous group that calls itself "Concerned Citizens" has sent letters to city officials raising concerns about possible fraud.
The group has claimed that operators sometimes falsely claim to represent charitable organizations as a front to hold bingo games and collect thousands of dollars spent by players. And even if the charities get some of the money, the group claimed, they may not get all they're entitled to.
Caldwell does not discount that possibility. "I think it's fair to say that there's some skimming going on," he said.
So far, no one has been charged with misrepresenting a charity. But records on file at the commissioner of revenue's office show that George Fox of Troutville was running games on behalf of St. Andrews Catholic Church but apparently without permission from the church.
Fox was one of the two bingo sponsors charged with exceeding a state-mandated $1,000 daily limit on jackpot prizes.
No one disputes that bingo is an easy way to raise money for a good cause.
"People won't give you five dollars if you knock on their door and ask for a contribution," said bingo supply distributor Mickey Johnson of Roanoke. "But they'll go out and play bingo, spend $30 or $40, and think nothing of it."
But some groups are concerned about the image associated with bingo, especially in light of the recent controversy.
Earlier this month, the Roanoke Valley SPCA decided to discontinue its games, which earned more than $40,000 a year for the organization.
"Bingo is going to come under increased scrutiny, and it may be more of a hassle than we want to get into," said SPCA Vice President Robert Webb.
Also, Webb says, the group worried about a possible stigma associated with bingo, regarded by some as a fund-raising method that capitalizes on people's urge to gamble.
"We feel that maybe bingo is not the proper image that the SPCA wants to be associated with," he said. "When we go to potential contributors, I think some of them are turned off by the fact that we play bingo."
Of the bingo hall owners that the newspaper attempted to contact, Teresa Craighead was the only one willing to talk.
Craighead, who runs TK Bingo on Peters Creek Road, was involved in bringing the charges against Fox and Patsy Hendrix, who sponsor games at Bonanza Bingo on Williamson Road.
Craighead admits that competition was one of the factors that prompted her and several other bingo players to file the charges.
But, she testified at Wednesday's hearing: "We're not trying to take their money away. We're just trying to make it fair."
After saying that he had heard "clear evidence" that bingo laws are being broken in Roanoke, Judge Richard Pattisall warned operators that future violations will not be tolerated.
Craighead said he hopes the warning - combined with a new ordinance and beefed up enforcement - will be enough to change the way bingo is played in Roanoke.
"It's just the tip of the iceberg," she said of the violations revealed in court Wednesday. "But it's coming down." C7 C1 BINGO Bingo
by CNB