Georges Still Up To His Elbows In Financial Ties To Gambling
by Michael DiResto

Release from LAGOP:

In a profile of John Georges appearing in The Advocate yesterday we are told initially that:

Georges sold his gambling companies, which handle equipment ranging from video poker machines to jukeboxes, just before qualifying, saying a governor should not own businesses that are heavily regulated by the state.

But later on in the profile we learn the following:

Georges' opponents are quick to point out his ties to gambling through the video poker industry.

Much of Georges' success in past years came from companies including AMA Distributors, which provides video poker machines and other items. He also had the gambling-licensed companies Rapid Fire, National Holdings and Sunshine Ventures.

Before qualifying for governor, Georges sold those companies — partly financing the sale himself — to Corchiani, who already was working as AMA president….

"He can say he's out of the gaming industry if anything comes up," Corchiani said. "But he's not ducking and hiding."

Georges said he understands the gambling concerns because of the "historically negative connotations, and some believe it preys on the poor."

But he emphasizes he always ran honest and legal businesses that were heavily regulated by the state. [emphasis added]

The admission by Georges that he financed the "sale" of his gambling companies himself is troubling, because it means he still possesses a major financial stake in the success of these gambling operations. He may not technically own the companies, but by self-financing the sale it means he's still functioning as the bank and the loan officer. If the gambling companies don't continue to succeed, he doesn't get his loan payments back, and if those payments ever default, he will be right back to being the technical owner again. So I'm sorry, but John Georges cannot credibly claim to be "out of the gaming" industry just because the gambling partner who owes loan payments to Georges says so.

Georges seeks to create the appearance that he's put his gambling interests at arm's length, but the deal he's struck shows he's still up to his elbows in financial ties to gambling. If he hopes to live up to his own rhetoric about the importance of a governor not "owning" a state-regulated business, he must completely sever his financial ties to these companies. That he didn't do so already deserves scrutiny and suspicion.