Wheels of Fortune for Veterans
Leave it to Florida to turn all the patriotic support for veterans into something corrupt. Florida gambling laws state that parlors with slot-type games, bingo, and the like are only legal if the majority of the proceeds go to charity. So a group called Allied Veterans of the World ran about 50 parlors around the state under the guise that they were raising money for veterans charities. But a five-year investigation found that of the $290 million the group made, only $6 million made it to charitable organizations. And even in Florida, that’s nowhere near a majority. Then-Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll, a Navy veteran herself, was implicated in the scandal because the PR firm she co-owned represented the “veteragroup.” She was never charged but resigned immediately after being questioned.
