Casino Cash Backed Anti-Gambling Efforts

Casino-owning Indian tribes filtered more than $5 million through a series of corporations to satisfy what they called Ralph Reed's political concerns that he would be linked to the cash, which he used to mount Christian opposition to gambling in competing states, a Senate committee concluded Thursday.

The findings were contained in a massive, 357-page report by the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee, wrapping up a two-year investigation into influence-peddling by Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who directed the money Reed used in his anti-gambling efforts.

The bulk of the report documents the bilking of six Indian tribes of tens of millions of dollars by Abramoff and his partner, Michael Scanlon, both of whom have pleaded guilty to pocketing most of the money, and using some of the rest to bribe public officials.

"They sold their access and influence with House leadership as a way to con the tribes out of their money," Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N. D., said of Abramoff and Scanlon. Reed was accused of no wrongdoing, but the committee suggested that the use of nonprofit corporations by Reed, Abramoff and others was worthy of more investigation.

June 23, 2006
Posted By Hector Rodriguez
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com    Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!

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