Allegations of inducements to persuade venues to change over to The Trusts Charitable Foundation gaming machines in return for TAB makeovers resurfaced "by way of background" in an appeal by TTCF against a two-day suspension subsequently imposed by the Department of Internal Affairs, heard before the Gambling Commission.
Its decision was released last month.
The department had suspended TTCF's licence for two days on grounds relating to expenditure "which is considered to be excessive and not reasonable or necessary to the gambling operation", prohibited under section 52(1)(d) of the Gambling Act.
The expenditure included payments to Queenstown-based trustee Murray Acklin through his company, Evergreen.
In 2006, he was appointed as an "executive trustee with special responsibilities" by TTCF.
Those responsibilities specifically included recruiting venues in which the foundation would place its gaming machines.
For the period April 2006-March 2009, Mr Acklin was paid $425,254.
Other TTCF expenditure comprised trustee expenditure claims, mainly restaurant bills with large alcohol components, golf, hotel mini bars and accommodation for trustees and their spouses in Sydney during the Australian Gaming Expo.
The result of the appeal before the commission, released in a May 5 decision, was that the suspension was increased from two days to six days.
Following that decision, Mr Acklin told the ODT he and the foundation had not done anything wrong, but were the victims of a "grey area" of policy.
The commission concluded the "conduct [of the foundation], in this case, while not involving deliberate breach or want of good faith, nevertheless involved a deliberate and calculated decision to reject the secretary's [of the department] challenges and calls for [spending] restraint in favour of seizing the competitive advantage ...
"Whenever societies choose this path, they must face the consequences of their call. The foundation took the risk of questionable conduct to its advantage."
