Company Involved in D.C. Sports Betting Deal Has No Employees
The saga of the sports betting contract in the District of Columbia” href=”https://www.easymobilecasino.com/d-c-sports-betting-mad-rush-district-of-columbia/”>sports betting contract in the District of Columbia is like the gift that keeps on giving. And it may come to an unfortunate end for somebody. Currently, there are two members of the D.C. Council – Robert C. White Jr. and Elissa Silverman – who are asking that the government conduct an investigation of a company that alleges that it is a local enterprise, and as such, helps to meet the requirements for getting a government contract, but may not be much of an enterprise at all.
Saga Of The Washington DC Sports Betting Contract
This all stems from a report in the Washington Post in which it was revealed that Veteran Services Corp., which was used by Intralot, the company that was awarded the $215 contract, as its local representative, in effect. This deal came without a bid, which looked dubious to begin with, and now it has been discovered that this company doesn’t have any employees, and some of the executives that it has listed on its website don’t even work for them.
It’s a somewhat complicated story, but the gist of it is that Intralot submitted documents that stated Veterans Services was going to, in its own words, “perform the ENTIRE subcontract with its own organization and resources.”
However, back in 2009, when Intralot was pursuing the D.C. Lottery contract, Veterans Services had been vetted by city inspectors for its eligibility as a “local business,” they found that the company was owned by a 75-year-old woman named Barbara Bailey, whose son Emmanuel Bailey actually operated the company but was a Maryland resident. They found that Veterans Services operated out of Mrs. Bailey’s home, with two desks and a computer. And although the inspectors came to the conclusion that it did not qualify as a local business, they were overruled. Emmanuel Bailey, it was revealed, had contributed in excess of $30,000 to D.C. candidates for office, so perhaps some influence had been pedaled.
D.C Lottery And Intralot
Problems arose from the corporate structure that existed when Intralot began operating the D.C. Lottery, because it did so through a subsidiary called DC09. Veteran Services owned 51% of DC09, but Barbara Bailey’s 51% of Veteran Services did not, of course, translate to that same percentage in DC09. Yet, Intralot controlled and financed DC09, so as a result, the Greek-based company was performing all tasks necessary to carry the lottery off, when much of that was supposed to involve local interests.
In 2013, when Veterans Services applied for certification as a local business, it had no employees for the previous three years, according to D.C.’s Department of Small and Local Business Development. There were again no employees or wage reports two years later. Certain parties who have been listed as “vice presidents” had no idea that information even appeared on the company website.
Three years ago, Intralot was bidding for the Maryland lottery, in conjunction with Veterans Services. And they listed a Maryland address. But when Veterans Services was evaluated by officials, the conclusion was that they had “no capital, very limited business or industry experience,” and that they could not really explain what role they would actually play in the lottery operation. Even Emmanuel Bailey himself expressed that his company did not have any financial resources to carry out its contractual responsibilities.
So these are the people who will be accepting wagers from the public in the name of D.C. sports betting. Perhaps pending an investigation, which might be long overdue.
