Following up on yesterday’s post about Nevada regulation, here’s a story that demonstrates the need for strict internal controls in Florida, from the Miami New Times:
For some employees, Gulfstream Park was a hell of a place to work, full of cocaine and free gambling. When the scheme was finally discovered in 2007, hundreds of thousands of dollars had been stolen from the casino and taxpayers, and now the “family-friendly” racetrack is left with a potential public relations nightmare.
A state investigation is just about finished, and it paints an ugly portrait of Gulfstream. According to investigators, the parks employees and their friend, a cocaine-slinging ex-con once convicted of murder, ripped off nearly $289,324 in slot winnings. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement determined the Hallandale Beach casino now owes $144,662 in taxes on that ill-begotten money.
The ring of employees, which included highly placed supervisors, clearly acted in rogue fashion. The investigation also revealed that Gulfstreams sloppy management might have allowed the crime to occur. One example: Auditing of the casinos computer system was turned off, presumably by ring members, and nobody noticed.
Gulfstream executives were shielded from investigators by the parks politically connected attorney, Marc Dunbar, and the casino was slow in producing crucial documents.
via Miami News – Cocaine and Free Gambling at Gulfstream Park – page 1.
It’s a pretty sordid tale, but it shows just what can happen without proper oversight.