Washington DC Lottery Contract with Intralot to Come under Scrutiny?

Calls for investigation made

An op-ed article issued in the Washington Post this week put a face on the calls for an investigation into the award of a $38 million lottery contract to Intralot, reporting that the District's former attorney general, Peter Nickles, had recommended that an enquiry be carried out.

In relation to this, Washington DC Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby was asked to confirm the reports, but he only said: “We don't confirm or deny that an investigation is underway.”

However the article author opined: "But I concluded from reading between the lines of our conversation that Willoughby is pursuing the July 2010 request by the city's then-attorney general, Peter Nickles, for an investigation of the D.C. Council's involvement in the award of the city's $38 million lottery contract."

Further on, he said that such an investigation could "penetrate the veil of secrecy" cloaking the council's passage of a law legalising intrastate online gambling and determine the extent to which - if at all - political connections and cronyism have led to "waste and abuse in the lottery procurement process."

"One thing's for sure: It's all about the money."

As for the rules under which the District's lucrative lottery business was awarded, it has been pointed out that certified local, small and disadvantaged businesses are given advantage by the procurement laws, regardless of the fact that such companies often lack the expertise or equipment to operate lottery systems.

Thereby, a need for partnering with more experienced and successful outside companies emerges, but this also raises the question of how the partners in such a joint venture were brought together.

"Case in point: Intralot, the Greek gambling company that was awarded the lottery contract in December 2009," the article reads. "Ward 8 council member Marion Barry told Jeffrey Anderson of the Washington Times in July 2010 that he let Intralot know it needed to take on a local partner if it wanted the council to approve the pact.

“Barry, according to the Times, said: “I sent word that the contract was DOA without a local partner.”

"Continuing, Barry said, “I saw an opportunity for a reputable, substantial black businessman to get into the lottery business.”

"Barry was speaking of Emmanuel S. Bailey, whose local firm, Veterans Services Corp., got a majority stake in the $38 million contract."

As for one of the implicated sides, Intralot, it has denied any impropriety in the deal.