CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Lottery Commission has decided to continue an investigation into a Huntington-based video lottery parlor that allegedly extended credit and cashed checks for players.
Instead of making a decision Wednesday on the case involving Karen’s Cookie Carnival, the commission voted to table the vote and further the investigation. Commission Chairman Ken Greear said the parlor has been in trouble twice before for similar behavior.
“This potentially has the error of willful, willfully violating the regulations. Our job is to make sure the public is protected in this light,” Greear told MetroNews Wednesday, adding this is the first case of a possible three-time offender that he can remember.
Karen’s Cookie Carnival owner Phillip Mann testified for several minutes before the commission. He said he didn’t realize what he was doing was wrong. He said he was told by an attorney at the Lottery and another official that what he was doing was okay. The Lottery’s attorney said there are no notes in connection with any conversations with Mann.
The allegations of check cashing and credit extending also allegedly involve a former employee who was let go by Mann. There’s also information that the checks were written out to a realty company that Mann owns and not the video parlor. Greear said there seems to be a lot of partial information that needs further review.
“In one sense he admitted that people do cash checks to go back and play games and then he indicated that it wasn’t the case. We want to make sure that it’s clear and distinct,” Greear said.
Mann could face a fine of more than $331,000. The Lottery Commission could also decide to revoke his license.
Greear said the commission will use its subpoena power to bring those involved with the case in to testify before the commission.
“It’s only the second time that I’m aware of that we’ve gone to that degree but I think that in this circumstance it does warrant it,” he said.
Greear said the integrity of the Lottery is on the line.
“If we don’t have the integrity and if we don’t have the faith in the general public then the Lottery is not serving the purpose and not serving the state of West Virginia as it should,” he said.
Also at Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the Lottery Commission:
–new financial numbers show sports betting on mobile apps outperformed sports betting at casinos in November at $2.2 million to $962,000
–revenue from multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions is down 38 percent this year due to the absence of large jackpots. Jackpots for those two games average $176 million last fiscal year. The average this year is $90 million
–a contingent of state Lottery officials traveled to Pennsylvania recently to meet with state gambling officials there to discuss iGaming which is anticipated in West Virginia by mid-2021