Santa Clara Vanguard 2024

[Richard Lesher]

11 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

BD found ways to keep bingo going, like the outdoor game they had

AND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BD is burden with having to pay for occupancy rental expense. 

I'll let other folks poke around BD's balance sheet, but they are sitting an F-ton of money. 

FY year end 2021 BD's 

CASH HOLDINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is $5,901,113

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942216542/202213049349301901/full

I have an idea what they did, and good for them. I think a lot has to do with using Gov Covid support smartly. 

Revenue jumped TWO MILLION DOLLARS FROM PRE-COVID numbers. 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Richard Lesher

[DWW11]

43 minutes ago, Richard Lesher said:

AND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BD is burden with having to pay for occupancy rental expense. 

I'll let other folks poke around BD's balance sheet, but they are sitting an F-ton of money. 

FY year end 2021 BD's 

CASH HOLDINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is $5,901,113

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942216542/202213049349301901/full

I have an idea what they did, and good for them. I think a lot has to do with using Gov Covid support smartly. 

Revenue jumped TWO MILLION DOLLARS FROM PRE-COVID numbers. 

 

I just assumed they reaped the Bingo revenues that SCV lost?

[ironlips]

1 hour ago, DWW11 said:

I just assumed they reaped the Bingo revenues that SCV lost?

I wouldn't think that very likely. Given the hour and a half commute between the two sites and the demographics of most Bingo players, it seems there would not be much incentive to make that trip. There are quite a few more games running much closer by.

[HockeyDad]

Page after page of thinly veiled innuendo. Are we suggesting someone has their hand in the till over at SCV and is skimming the proceeds?  Again?  Is that where this is going with all the - where did the money go - why is the paperwork lagging and incomplete and incorrect - discussion?  How can BD have 5 million on hand and SCV be barely holding it together when they both have thriving bingo operations?  

[Richard Lesher]

2 hours ago, DWW11 said:

I just assumed they reaped the Bingo revenues that SCV lost?

I don't know about that, possibly, I suspect they mostly likely lost market share is from those folks that are between Concord and Santa Clara. It's an hour between the two, but say if you lived in the middle then it's only 30 minutes either direction. So the better product is going to win. 

But I don't think folks SOUTH of Santa Clara are going up to Concord to play Bingo. They could go to Salinas though, or elsewhere, etc...

[Richard Lesher]

56 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

Page after page of thinly veiled innuendo. Are we suggesting someone has their hand in the till over at SCV and is skimming the proceeds?  Again? 

In the fall of 2005 I had said in a Board Meeting in no uncertain terms:

"SCV does not have the financial controls in place to measure their financial reporting, is exposed to fraud, theft and operating loss, and does not have the means to measure what that exposure is." 

I was pushed back very strongly by another board member who is a big personality in City politics, and a retired financial crimes detective. He said to me: 

"Be very careful what you are saying Mr. Lesher"

I replied: 

"That is exactly what I am saying"

It wasn't even weeks and the Bingo Manager was arrested for the thefts, which turned out to be astronomical sums of money, and no less than $800K in just what we were able to document. Soon after SCV revenues DOUBLED in my tenure. 

After that fraud was finally broken I barely made it onto the Board of Directors by one vote. The corruption was never fully routed. 

*********************

I cannot say that fraud or theft exists. 

I can say the opportunity does exist in spades, and SCV does not have the Audit Financial Statements to show where the funds are going. 

I can say to date Vanguard is in violation of:

CA Gov Code. 12586 - failure to provide required audits

Cal. Code Regs., Title. 11, § 999.9.4. - solicitation of donations as a delinquent charity

CA Gambling Laws § 326.5 - illegally paying Bingo operations employees with bingo revenue

I can support my accusations with the unaudited IRS From 990's that SCV has submitted and the DOJ notifications alone. 

Those three violations exist.

Fraud and theft and operating loss (mistakes of bingo employees giving away too much money or change, wink wink) could technically not exist, but it would not be a logical business assessment to presume it doesn't. 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Richard Lesher

[Jeff Ream]

3 hours ago, DWW11 said:

I just assumed they reaped the Bingo revenues that SCV lost?

i think i remember reading they added another location for bingo?

[Jeff Ream]

51 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

Page after page of thinly veiled innuendo. Are we suggesting someone has their hand in the till over at SCV and is skimming the proceeds?  Again?  Is that where this is going with all the - where did the money go - why is the paperwork lagging and incomplete and incorrect - discussion?  How can BD have 5 million on hand and SCV be barely holding it together when they both have thriving bingo operations?  

i don't know if fraud is involved. stupidly spending definitely

[Richard Lesher]

There is no Bingo Committee, the Bingo Manager works from Hawaii, no one that represents the board is keeping close tabs on Bingo Operations. 

Bingo is a very large cash driven business, and I suspect they are no longer inventorying the bingo cards and other gaming supplies inventory. 

It's not impossible the entire SCV leadership, management and Board have no idea the nuances of bingo operations. Everyone is working virtually except a few lower level folks. 

It's highly likely every single Bingo Employee could just pocket cash covertly and walk out the door with it. 

YES, YES!!!!!!!!!!! Folks will claim some bingo employees were arrested for stealing a few hundred dollars in the last year or so. So a claim can be made to some sort of oversight. 

What I'm getting at is who is checking the folks that tally up the deposits at the end of the day, and report the final numbers that get put into the finances? There certainly aren't any audits of such. 

Now that I think about it, I can only imagine the difficulty of trying retroactively clean that up for several years to the degree auditors given an unqualified opinion. 

**************

So if a bingo player buys $100 worth of bingo cards, and there is no inventory check of the cards at the end of the day relative to the revenue taken in for that day then how does one check that $100 just didn't go into someone's pocket. 

OK, so someone got caught on camera last year. 

So at the end of the day when there is say $10,000 in revenue to deposit across all registers who is checking that revenue against the inventory and ensuring that revenue is matching the deposited funds that actually make it into the bank account? 

Whatever the counter argument is, there are no audited financial statements to say everything is on the up and up. 

The Bingo Manager in no way can attest to the bingo reports that are filed to the City. At best he can only blindly trust they are correct. 

 

 

 

[DWW11]

1 hour ago, ironlips said:

I wouldn't think that very likely. Given the hour and a half commute between the two sites and the demographics of most Bingo players, it seems there would not be much incentive to make that trip. There are quite a few more games running much closer by.

It’s a naive response, for sure, but here in PA and NJ i know people who WILL drive an hour for bingo if the pots are good and the hall is nice.  And the $2 mil increase does seem to be reflected in their gaming profits.