Lottery news from http://www.thestate.com/
A group of state senators wants the General Assembly’s investigative arm to examine the 2001 awarding of a contract to Scientific Games to operate the S.C. lottery.
The request follows the May indictment in North Carolina of Kevin Geddings, a former gubernatorial adviser who led the effort for a lottery in South Carolina.
In a letter to the Legislative Audit Council, state Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, said the indictment casts a “dark cloud of suspicion” over the contract.
At the time of the indictment, S.C. lottery commissioner Tim Madden of Greenville said, “We are confident that we properly followed the procurement process and complied with the letter and spirit of the law throughout 2001 and thereafter.”
Madden has since been elected commission chairman.
The request for a review was made by Ryberg and Republican Sens. Kevin Bryant of Anderson, Chip Campsen of Charleston, Mike Fair of Greenville, Greg Gregory of Lancaster, Larry Grooms of Berkeley, John Hawkins of Spartanburg, Wes Hayes of York and Danny Verdin of Laurens.
Audit requests generally require at least five lawmakers’ signatures to be considered. The council could consider the request as soon as its July 25 meeting.
Audits do not carry weight of law but could be used in later official proceedings.
The indictment, from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, alleges Geddings received more than $228,000 directly and indirectly from Alpharetta, Ga.-based Scientific Games from February 2001 to September 2005.
The indictment alleges he failed to disclose his relationship with Scientific Games when he was being considered for the lottery commission in North Carolina in 2005.
Scientific Games operates the S.C. lottery and was a losing bidder for the recently started N.C. games.
Geddings has said he is innocent of the mail- and wire-fraud charges.
Geddings left the administration of Gov. Jim Hodges to manage the 2000 lottery referendum campaign. Voters approved a state lottery that November.
Geddings later helped win a similar lottery referendum campaign in Tennessee. But after Hodges lost his re-election bid in 2002, a campaign with which Geddings was closely involved, Geddings and his family moved to North Carolina.
Following the indictment, The State newspaper requested copies of all communication between Geddings and the S.C. lottery or lottery commission since 2001.
The copies, provided under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, showed that Geddings had little contact with lottery officials before and after the launch of the games.
None of the communication, which included e-mails, letters and fax messages, was specific to Scientific Games.
|
|
World Casino Directory 
Gambling Forums 
