Introduction to This Story

If you read the first story I posted, then you know
that I met with both former and current lottery
employees in May. One of many allegations
was that Mr. Grief was wasting taxpayer
money on memberships and travels - and
the state WAS paying for his trips even
though Mr. Grief says "there is no
cost to the Texas Lottery"
regarding many of his trips.

The employees alleged that World Lottery
Association (WLA) International travels
were paid for by increasing Membership
dues and those dues WERE paid
by the State of Texas.

Whoa - what an accusation.

So I set out to investigate this one allegation. It
appears to me there's definitely something to it.
We definitely need or deserve an explanation
from State Officials based on my findings.

The Facts and the Timeline ...

I wanted to know about joining the
World Lottery Association first. So I
go to Commission meeting transcripts
for that information. Found it ....

Gary Grief Tells The Commissioners
Feb 13, 2014 Commission Meeting:
Gary Grief speaking: "And while I believe that membership
would indeed be a wonderful opportunity for our lottery, the
European countries, I will tell you, are much more advanced than
the U.S. when it comes to interactive and Internet gaming. Both
of those are spreading rapidly across state lotteries here in the U.S.,
but the challenges and the limitations of traveling to WLA events
really makes a membership in WLA for Texas less than practical.
With that said, and after a lengthy discussion with WLA, I believe
they are going to put forth some type of proposal to us for
membership that would include some type of reimbursable
travel from WLA. I'll be working closely with Kathy Pyka
and our budget staff in Texas state government and see
if that might pass muster under our standards. If it does,
I'll obviously bring that back before the Commission
for a discussion."

April 16, 2014 CM Meeting
Gary Grief speaking: "And while I believe that membership in the
WLA would be extremely beneficial to our state as the European
lotteries, quite frankly, are more advanced than U.S. lotteries
and there is much that we can learn from the European lottery
experience, the challenges and limitations related to actually
attending WLA meetings due to our state travel guidelines
and restrictions make it less than practical to be a member
of WLA. And I communicated that information to the WLA.
After the WLA received that information and went back
and had a discussion with their membership, they have now
offered us and opportunity to join WLA in a special membership
that would include certain travel reimbursable for the purpose
of attending WLA meetings. The total annual cost for this
membership would be $21,000, and my intent is to have the
Texas Lottery join the WLA for one year and then monitor
the benefits of that membership and reevaluate that at
the end of that one-year time period."

Mr. Grief is a smooth talker huh???

Mr. Grief says three things here that get's
my attention. One is the outrageous cost of
$21,000 CHF for membership dues to an
organization in Switzerland.

Second was his statements "... went
back and had a discussions with their
membership" and his remark ... "special
membership that would include
certain travel reimbursable"

And third was his comments for joining
WLA ... "more advanced than the U.S.
when it comes to interactive and
Internet gaming." Mr. Grief, must I
remind you, Texas is PROHIBITED
from selling lottery online?

I'm of the old school - I don't believe there
is a FREE LUNCH nor do I believe any
Association want's a member so badly that
they would offer Texas or Mr Grief
a "deal" at their expense.

I wanted to confirm how much
the membership dues were .... So ...

I requested invoices from the Texas Lottery for
membership dues. After much ado, I finally
received invoices for the years 2016, 2017,
2018 and 2019. As per their retention
schedule, that's all there is. Earlier
years were destroyed.

BUT
I also requested World Lottery
invoices from the California Lottery
because I received altered documents
which made me leery of anything
I receive from the TX Lottery.
As fate would have it, it's a
damn good thing I did.

-----

Excerpt 1
As it appears on all three
(2017, 2018, 2019)
California Lottery's WLA
Membership Invoices

---------

Excerpt 2

I checked to see what was posted
on the World Lottery website...

OK ... We've Confirmed The Outrageous Dues ...
There it is ... Mr. Grief told the Commissioners the
cost to join WLA was 21,000 CHF and the
membership dues were confirmed at that
price.

World Lottery Association Web Site
Click here

..--------------------

- BUT WAIT A MINUTE -

TX Dues Are Billed Higher Than Quoted ...

I saw something fishy from
the documents I received.
This will blow you away ...

------

The Texas Lottery Invoice for membership was
billed at 27,000 CHF NOT $21,000 CHF
California was billed the quoted amount. Hmmm ...

Excerpt
As it appears on Texas' 2018 Invoice
(Which incidentally is the ONLY invoice
that includes a Fee Structure - I'll
get to this issue in a minute)

27,000 CHF? What? Why?

FYI - As you could see on the Fee Structure above,
membership dues are based on sales, the greater
the sales the greater the dues. California sales
surpass TX sales by a LONG shot. Both
TX & CA exceed $4 billion which put
them in the highest rate of 21,000.

- Important -
The amount due is shown in Swiss Franc.
The dues in US dollars would be $27,866
(current exchange rate.)

I wonder ...
Did Mr. Grief lie to the Commissioners thinking
they'd never know how much TX was paying?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Next, I Set Out To Find How Much
Texas Paid For The WLA Membership?

Oh My Gawd ... Look What Texas Paid ...

Except From "Memberships" Category Spreadsheet
(Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts)

NOTE: FY15 (Sept 2014) was the year Texas
originally joined so it would be my guess that the
payment was a pro-rated amount. This is just
an educated guess.

Yep, looks like Texas paid a whole lot of extra monies
for their membership. And it certainly could
cover Mr. Grief's travel expenses!

Remember, Mr. Grief told the Commissioners the dues
were "21,000 Francs" with a "special membership."

Is there is another explanation?

xxxxx

What's Even More Shocking ...

Of the four (4) Texas Lottery invoices I received,
ONLY one included the Associations "Fee
Structure." Yet all California's invoices included
the "Fee Structure." The WLA invoice is a form
and I would assume everyone who receives an
invoice from WLA will have a fee structure
included on the form. It's much like a letterhead,
most people use the same letterhead for all
letters until they design a new one!

Look at the invoices so you can see what I mean ...

-------------------

Side by Side Comparison of the World Lottery
Membership Invoice - 2016 & 2018 Invoices
Texas vs California

Texas - 2016 WLA Invoice
Notice NO Fee Structure
Notice the price of the membership too

------------------

The Texas Lottery's 2016 invoice doesn't include the
same info as the CA invoice on the right. How could
that be? Why would it be missing the Fee Structure?
This is not logical .... In my humble opinion ...

Notice that TX says under "Concerning",
"Services for Year 2016"
Whereas California's says under "Concerning,"
"Regular Membership fee 2016"

Hmmm ... Maybe TX bought a Gold
Membership so it would include the extra's
that he claims costs the state NOTHING! <grin>

- FYI -
The WLA website states 4 classes of memberships ...
Regular, Collaborating, Associate and Contributors.
There's nothing mentioned for "Services"

------------------------------
------------------------------------

Texas 2018 WLA Invoice
Ooops, this invoice includes the Fee Structure.
It's the only one out of four that included it. But
do notice - the "Fee" charged does not match
the amount due for over $4 billion in sales.
(Did someone at the Texas Lottery make
a mistake and let this one get out to me?)

------------------------------
-----------------------------------

_____________________________

California 2018 WLA Invoice
Notice it's the same as CA's 2016 Invoice Above
(And the 2017 Invoice shown in the pdf - link below)

I wonder ....
Did TX alter the invoices they sent me?
Why do the TX invoices not include the fee structure?
Clearly, it's a part of WLA's invoices.

----------------------

See The Actual Invoices I Received ...

Click here see the four TX WLA invoices.
2016, 2017, 2018, & 2019. Only the 2018
invoice includes the Fee Structure.
The pdf also includes four NASPL invoices

Click here to see CA World Lottery Association invoices
2016, 2017 & 2018- All invoices includes a Fee Structure.

xxxx

Would WLA give a "travel deal" or
"special membership" as Grief phrased it?
Even though I was convinced from the evidence
that there probably was NO concessions
made to the membership fee by WLA, I
decided I might as well make a few
calls to see what others would say.

I contacted two friends who are extremely
knowledgeable in every aspect of the lotteries.
Both said the same thing regarding "travel deals"
to join WLA. First they said, "World Lottery
Association is a FOR PROFIT organization
and they ONLY pay travel costs for the President
of the Association which is currently Rebecca Hargrove."

Then I asked if it was possible to add travel costs to the
yearly dues so it could look like WLA was paying for travel.
Both sources said, "YES, that could be easily be arranged.
WLA would do whatever a state needs or requests."

WHOA .... I thought to myself. Is this what Mr. Grief
meant when he said, "they are going to put forth some
type of proposal to us for membership that would
include some type of reimbursable travel?"

As this series goes on, you're going to see
that Mr. Grief LOVES to travel. Even when
he was over the Claim Centers, he spent most of
his time out of the office traveling the state of TX.

"No Cost to the State" Grief Says ....

Going to London ...
Grief Statement at Feb 2, 2017 Commission Meeting
"I want to inform the Commission that I have been invited by the
World Lottery Association or the WLA, as it's known, to deliver a keynote
address and serve on a panel at the Annual WLA and European Lotteries
Conference that will be held next week in London. The conference will
be February 8th through the 10th. The WLA will be taking care of all
my travel expenses, meaning that there will be no cost to the State;
and we have sent letters to our legislative oversight committees
to that effect, informing them as well."

I'm sorry - did you say at "no cost to the state?" I'm sorry, but I
take issue with that statement. As we just saw, on April 5, 2016,
the State paid membership dues to WLA $28,191.07 and on
March 31, 2017, the State paid membership dues to
WLA $26,994.60 when it should have cost the state
$21,000 CHF (or an est $21.7 US dollars).

I hope you explained the astounding Membership dues
you authorized and paid WLA. Or did those excessive
payments pay for the Conference Fee's? But wait a
minute, the payments were coded with "Membership
Dues" so I guess that can't be other fee's.

-----------------------

- Excerpt -
As it appears in Grief's Interoffice Memo
regarding his Feb 2017 trip to London.
He and his wife will stay a little longer.

- Excerpt -
As it appears on Grief's Time Sheet

How so very nice, an extra 2 or 3 days in London.
Looks like Grief used the comp time he earned
traveling to London. What a neat job he has!
But he still says it didn't cost the state anything?
Hmmm ...

(Added All or Nothing link after the story was posted)
Lotteries around the world use the same lottery vendors like
G-Tech/IGT, Sci Games, and Intralot. Why spend money when
your vendors can and do tell you about other games in other
countries? Much like the All or Nothing game that was played
elsewhere in the world prior to TX offering it but Grief
claimed he "invented" the game when speaking to the
Commissioners.

--------------------------------------------------

February 13, 2014 - Commission Meeting - Grief Says
"This was a three-day event that I participated in, and
all my expenses were covered by the WLA. No money
was expended by either the Texas Lottery Commission or
the State of Texas. I participated in two separate panels
and presentations in this particular conference."

Hmmm, this is certainly debatable given
the amount of money OVERPAID for dues!

Is Grief under Oath?

Mr. Grief ... Please tell us WHY the TLC
OVERPAYS its dues to World Lottery
Association so I can tell my readers.

--------------------------------

This One Has Nothing
To Do With WLA
Just an extra addition so you can see
how Grief views "No Cost to the State"

- Excerpt - Grief Says .... Personal time, no cost to state ....
As it appears in Grief's Interoffice Memo

- Excerpt - Holiday Comp Time
As it appears on Mr. Grief's Time Sheets
for his extended stay in San Antonio ...

Well, this time he used Holiday Comp time
to say in San Antonio on Friday, Jan 26th.
How many meals did Pollard provide?
Was Grief still getting paid for working
while he was on this trip? Oh wait a
minute, Grief is off every Friday
because he telecommutes. Strange
that he'd use comp time!

Of all the disturbing things I just showed you,
this is the most bothersome of all to me ...

Director Grief Takes A Trip To
Buenos Aires, Argentina Nov 16 - 25, 2018
He's attending a WLA Conference to discuss
lottery industry issues. Yeah, right ...

If you want to know what I think, I think
Mr. Grief is using his job and state money
to promote himself.

At any rate, Mr. Grief estimated the
travel costs to be $5,994.34

On his Expense Claim form submitted to WLA, he states that
the Registration and Airfare had been paid and reimbursed.

I have many spreadsheets showing travels and I could
not find an airfare for this amount between June 2018
through Jan 2019 that would have been paid for the
State of TX. Therefore, I do believe his airline ticket
was provided to him by someone.

IF
membership dues were really increased to include travel
for the Executive Director of the Texas Lottery, then as a
citizen of TX, I have a real problem with what I'm
getting ready report next.

In an Interoffice Memo, you'll see that Mr. Grief
submitted an expense report for reimbursements
of $1800 from the World Lottery Association.
The payment was to be wired or direct deposited
into Mr. Grief personal bank acct.

Shouldn't that money have been returned
to the State of Texas for having OVERPAID
their membership dues?

Keep in mind, Mr. Grief says repeatedly that
his travels does NOT cost the state anything.

But I take issue with that statement - not only he is
away from his office where he is suppose to be
conducting state business, but he is ALSO
accruing COMP time while on these
trips and is still receiving his salary.

Excerpt - Gary Grief 2018 Time Sheets
While on this trip to Argentina
with his wife ...

Grief's Comp Time earned continues through Nov 27, 2018.
In another segment of this story, I will show you the
value of building "Comp Time" and not using
vacation time or sick time. It is MY OPINION,
Mr. Grief is taking advantage of the State. It's legal,
but changes are needed to prevent many people
from taking advantage of what's available.
He's adding time to his total "Service Time"

- In Concluding This Story -

To quickly summarize my findings - which some are circumstantial -
it appears that Mr. Grief lied to the Commissioners about the
cost of the WLA Membership. It would be my theory that
he did this so he could travel the world pretending it's
in the best interest of the state. Clearly, it's not.

The way Grief was speaking during the Commission Meeting,
it sounded like he and Kathy Pyka were deep in negotiations
to get a really good membership deal. Usually when folks
negotiate, they end up paying less that the regular price.
I'm afraid I'd have to say Mr. Griefs ability to negotiate
sucks. He should sharpen his skills!

I suspect that the WLA Invoices sent to me via
my Open Records request were altered. I can't
prove this - other than seeing other invoices
and comparing them to the Texas invoice.

Building "comp time" while he's traveling seems
like Grief is taking advantage of the states intent of
"comp time." The International trips Grief takes
are long flights. In a way, I think he's
double dipping!

Just so you know, there is a whole lot more coming
on Griefs travels, the exorbitant amount of money
spent on memberships, licensed property games and
sponsorships to name just a few. I should have
included "special treatment expenses" for some special
employees too. How sad to see millions spent so ONE
person can promote himself and act like a big wig!
In my humble opinion.

You Have Asked ... What Can You Do?
I've given up on complaining to the AG, State Auditor
or the Commissioners. All they seem to do is ask
the TLC to investigate itself. Therefore, this leaves
contacting the ONLY two groups of people who
have the authority to take action and investigate the
spending of State money for travels and memberships.

So, if you think there's a problem from what I've shown
you thus far, then please pick and call just one member of
the Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee
to report the allegations posted here. Then call a reporter
with a major newspaper and alert them to what's going on.

This might help.

Stay tuned for the next story coming in about 10 days!
(I say this but you need to know, my husband is
having surgery on his back tomorrow (8/22/19) so
the time frame for the next story is subject to change.)

----------------------------

- A Must Read -
Complaint Letter to Governor Abbott
Posted 11/9/19 - Click here
Exhibits to letter:
Exhibits A - D - Click here
Exhibits E - J - Click here

--------------------

Texas' Fun 5's Scratch Ticket Lawsuits