Gambling Is A Major Factor In Government, Nonprofit Fraud

by Gary Snyder

This month, a temporary employee who was managing the Bloomfield (NM) Motor Vehicle Department stole more than $25,000 to feed her gambling addiction. 

She applied and was accepted into a pre-prosecution diversion program the San Juan County District Attorney's Office offers. To be accepted into the program, defendants must pay back half of what they stole. They have to pay the entire restitution to complete the program. Defendants can have criminal charges against them dropped if they complete the two-year program.

Not all are happy though. Bloomfield Mayor Scott Eckstein, a veteran of  20-years in law enforcement as a patrol sergeant and detective, said he thinks defendants who commit serious thefts should not only have to pay back what they stole but face criminal charges.

Understandable. The area has been plagued with a series of charity fraud in recent years.

Other gambling related nonprofit frauds include an employee at the Cancer Service Network (NY) who was charged with stealing $700,000 to feed a gambling habit. In the District of Columbia the executive director of Keely’s District Boxing and Youth Center pleaded guilty to absconding with $205,000. In Pennsylvania, $713,000 was lost at the Allegheny Health Network because of a gambling addiction.

Also, fifty-seven people have been charged amid a $300 million gambling operation allegedly masked as a charity, Allied Veterans of the World.

An Australia and New Zealand study revealed that 53% of the money stolen in the sector was to fund gambling. People working in the not-for-profit sector who stole to fund their gambling took an average amount of $180,643 which is significantly higher than for any other reason. On average $45,556 was stolen by people to maintain a desired lifestyle and $13,150 stolen because of financial pressures.

If you do not think that this is an issue look at this from just a few months ago.

Nonprofit Imperative gathers its information principally from public documents...some of which are directly quoted. Virtually all cited are in some phase of criminal proceedings; some have not been charged, however. Cites in various media: Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Charity Navigator, Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio (NPR), Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), “Betrayal”, (a movie), NBC (on Charity Fraud…TBD), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Marie Claire, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, Charity Navigator, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, Board Room Insider, USA Today Topics, Accountants News, Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times, Portfolio Magazine, The Virgin Islands Daily News, NANKAI (China) BUSINESS REVIEW, National Religious Broadcasters newsletter, The Charity Governance Blog, American Chronicle, Palm Beach Post, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, Nonprofit World, Socially Responsible Business Forum, PNNOnline, Ohio Nonprofit Resources, Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, Nonprofit Startup Guide, Nonprofit Blog, National Coalition of Homeless Newsletter, Finance and Administration Roundtable Newsletter, MichiganNonprofit.com, CORP! Magazine, Crain’s Michigan Nonprofit, ncrp.org, PhilanTopic, Nashville Free Press, Nonprofit Law Blog, Seniors World Chronicle, Carnegie Reporter, Assoc. of Certified Fraud Examiners Examiner, msnbc.com, Worchester (MA) Telegram and Gazette, Carnegie Corporation of America, EO Tax Journal, Wikipedia: Non-profit Organizations; Parent: Wise Austin, Accountants News, Veterans Today, Answers.com, Far-roundtable, #Nonprofit Report, nonprofithelpnews, nonprofit news; National Enquirer, Northwest Herald, The HelpWise Daily, The #Nonprofit Report, Wikipedia (Nonprofit Organization), Answers.com, Nonprofits: On the Brink (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)