Bingo: VFW Bingo Looted Of $170,000
They helped run a non-profit bingo for the Women's Auxiliary of a Covington VFW post.
The current president of the post's Women's Auxiliary pulled the plug on the bingo and says more than $170,000 is missing.
Current
says she's been waiting three years to tell what she calls a sad story
of greed. It's simple, she's the current president of the Women's
Auxiliary at the VFW Montague post in Covington. Three years ago the
group began hosting bingo to raise money for sick veterans.
No one could believe the amount of money that starting flowing in by bingo games.
"The
ladies seemed to be making money. At the meetings it would be something
about 43, 54 thousand, and we're going, 'Wow, this is just great!'"
Current
says those staggering profits would be counted in a back room at Pike
Place Bingo. And when $54,000 in the group's bingo fund suddenly
dropped to $20,000, members started asking questions and monthly
meetings went from bingo fun to tense.
Two
former auxiliary bingo members, Anna Ruff and Deborah Bartlett , Anna Ruff's
brother, Billy "Butch" Daniels, along with former VFW member in charge
of book keeping, Jeffery Franklin, are now under indictment for
allegedly pocketing bingo profits.
More than $170,000 is missing
from just one year of bingo,Current says investigators are just now
looking for missing money from year's two and three.
"It's
sad! When you got people out there dying and you've got these men
coming over here that you can really treat well and take care of their
families for them, with a $170,000 what do you think we could have
done?"
Local 12 was still trying Friday night to get in touch with the four people charged for their side of the story.
Meantime, the Kenton Commonwealth's Attorney's Office says no one at the VFW or with Pike Place Bingo have done anything wrong.
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