B-I-N-G-O
08-16-2007, 11:23 AM
SUFFOLK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
Bingo records vanish amid probe
from Brookhaven Town Hall, town officials said Wednesday.
Two years of weekly bingo game reports from the Suffolk Independent Living Organization were found Monday afternoon to have disappeared from the town clerk's office, Supervisor Brian Foley said. "When it became clear that documents were missing, our law department became immediately involved and forwarded the information directly to the district attorney," he said.
The Brookhaven clerk's office -- which under state law monitors bingo recpts -- discovered that the documents were missing while responding to simultaneous Freedom of Information requests from Newsday and subpoenas from the Suffolk district attorney, Foley said.
Prosecutors have been investigating since late last year allegations of skimming in Suffolk Independent Living Organization's bingo games. The head of the handicapped advocacy charity and a former employee have accused each other of pocketing cash, according to town officials. Both have denied wrongdoing and charity officials insist strict cash-control rules have been put in place since the employee's departure.
Brookhaven officials have said the unaccounted-for bingo proceeds from the charity's games could be as much as $500,000.
Each week, under New York State law, bingo organizers must report thr gross bingo recpts, prize amounts and total expenses on so-called "BC7" forms. The forms also detail the names of volunteers supervising games and include original signatures of whoever recorded the data.
All reports filed by Friends of SILO between January 2006 and January of this year are gone, officials said, and so are all reports from October 2005 to last September filed by Barrier Busters, a SILO subsidiary created to run bingo games.
While the town still has recpt totals based on those records, the originals could not be found in the clerk's office or at the town's off-site archives, town spokesman Michael Pitcher said. "They turned the place upside down," he said.
Brookhaven town attorney Robert Quinlan said it's possible an honest mistake caused the documents to go missing. But, he said, "If it's shown that there was any criminal intent involved in the disappearance of these records, the town will see that it's prosecuted to the fullest extent possible."
Bingo records vanish amid probe
from Brookhaven Town Hall, town officials said Wednesday.
Two years of weekly bingo game reports from the Suffolk Independent Living Organization were found Monday afternoon to have disappeared from the town clerk's office, Supervisor Brian Foley said. "When it became clear that documents were missing, our law department became immediately involved and forwarded the information directly to the district attorney," he said.
The Brookhaven clerk's office -- which under state law monitors bingo recpts -- discovered that the documents were missing while responding to simultaneous Freedom of Information requests from Newsday and subpoenas from the Suffolk district attorney, Foley said.
Prosecutors have been investigating since late last year allegations of skimming in Suffolk Independent Living Organization's bingo games. The head of the handicapped advocacy charity and a former employee have accused each other of pocketing cash, according to town officials. Both have denied wrongdoing and charity officials insist strict cash-control rules have been put in place since the employee's departure.
Brookhaven officials have said the unaccounted-for bingo proceeds from the charity's games could be as much as $500,000.
Each week, under New York State law, bingo organizers must report thr gross bingo recpts, prize amounts and total expenses on so-called "BC7" forms. The forms also detail the names of volunteers supervising games and include original signatures of whoever recorded the data.
All reports filed by Friends of SILO between January 2006 and January of this year are gone, officials said, and so are all reports from October 2005 to last September filed by Barrier Busters, a SILO subsidiary created to run bingo games.
While the town still has recpt totals based on those records, the originals could not be found in the clerk's office or at the town's off-site archives, town spokesman Michael Pitcher said. "They turned the place upside down," he said.
Brookhaven town attorney Robert Quinlan said it's possible an honest mistake caused the documents to go missing. But, he said, "If it's shown that there was any criminal intent involved in the disappearance of these records, the town will see that it's prosecuted to the fullest extent possible."