Police brass know the illegal business is there. It's been in the 1400 block of West Roache Street for years. Politicians know it's there, too. Ministers in the area know about Gypsy's, and so do the people who live in the neighborhood.
But with the exception of the occasional raid when traffic or some kind of other trouble connected to the simple wood-frame house gets out of hand, the drawings continue unabated.
The presence of Gypsy's and about a half-dozen other pea-shake houses in Indianapolis illustrates the deep schism that exists about the gambling operations among police, public officials and community members.
Some view pea-shake operations as entities that provide jobs and don't hurt anyone.
They also donate money to youth programs, soup kitchens and other community programs. The people who gamble at the houses see them as beacons of hope because for as little as a dime, they could win a few hundred bucks.
This argument that the operators of the pea shake houses are do-gooders who donate money is no different than the mafia's long-time practice of making generous contributions to churches and community groups where they operate to buy off public support. Completely missing from O'Shaughnessy's story is the availability of a regulated charitable gambling under existing Indiana law to help do good for the community. They won't get a charitable gaming license to carry on their activities because that isn't the kind of operation they are running. And that should be clear for all to see.
O'Shaughnessy throws this bone to the opponents of pea shake houses describing the operations at their worst:
They are illegal. They attract drug dealers and thieves selling stolen goods. Losing gambling slips are often dropped onto the ground and blow into people's yards.
The operations frequently create traffic problems. Families sometimes suffer, too, because the bread-winner has spent the paycheck at a pea-shake house.
If O'Shaughnessy had spoken to some of the folks who live near the pea shake house at 34th and Central as I have, he would have learned a lot more. Folks up there have to be careful about speaking out. A neighbor who voiced his opposition a few years ago was drug from his car and shot in the arm as a warning to keep his mouth shut according to one concerned neighbor to whom I spoke.
City officials are also proving how easy it is to lie. "There's never been any kind of tacit authorization of pea shakes or any illegal gambling," said Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell. "If you do something illegal, we'll enforce the law." "Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Spears said the idea that ticket houses, another name for pea-shake houses, or other illegal operations are protected is 'just folklore.'" "I told them there are no locations or individuals that are exempt from enforcement action," Spears said. "The officers have my complete support. I commend them for their actions." The story does note that the original police report showing Sen. Glenn Howard (D-Indianapolis) had protested a raid on the Roache Street pea shake house earlier this month was later altered by police to remove his name. "When word of the report alteration became public, old questions emerged about whether there is an unspoken rule in the Police Department to ignore the pea-shake houses," O'Shaughnessy writes.
If you read what former mayoral Louis Mahern says later in the article, he basically confirms Campbell and Spears are not telling the truth. "Some elected officials continue to protect them because they put some money back into the community," said Louis Mahern, a Democrat who ran for mayor in 1991 and now heads the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Board. "The feeling is they don't hurt anyone.'' "Mahern said he visited several pea-shake houses when he ran for mayor." "He said legalizing the games would be better than pretending they don't exist." There's a reason Mahern visited those pea shake house as a mayoral candidate. He knew he had to support their operation if he wanted any support from certain African-American leaders in his mayoral bid. He already had his back against the wall because his GOP candidate, Steve Goldsmith, pretty much turned a blind eye to them as the county's prosecutor for 8 years and was winning support from the black community. I credit Mahern for at least being honest about the subject.
Current prosecutor Carl Brizzi says police bring few complaints to his office for prosecution. "Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said the police bring few illegal gambling cases to his office." "Laws are inconsistent, he said, allowing some forms of gambling while outlawing others, such as pea shakes and sports pools." The story doesn't mention it, but Brizzi's office did file various criminal charges against the man operating the Roache street pea shake house.
A couple of weeks ago, WXNT's Abdul Hakim-Shabazz reported the existence of a federal RICO investigation of the illegal pea shake houses. "Sources say the Government has identified nearly a dozen pea shake houses with net profits of more than $29 million, after payouts," he wrote then. "And that is a conservative estimate," he added. "There is also reason for the federal government to believe that in addition to those profits, millions more have been funneled into financing drugs, prostitution and loan sharking." "Money may have also been funneled into financing legitimate businesses in Indianapolis." The Star article references no federal investigation.
57 comments:
Black elected officials are usually elected by over-whelming majorities. They are quite in touch with their voters. They know their constituents. These leaders know what the real problems are - these elected officials have priorites of issues to deal with.
AdvanceIndiana would do well to listen and learn what the real problems are - "peashakes" are not high on the list of troubles.
With $29,000,000 allegedly sloshing around in unsavory hands, there does indeed seem to be a "ghetto mafia". The sleazy GOP politicos who so glibly holler about Carl Drummer, Julia Carson, Frank Anderson, etc. as being the "Ghetto Mafia" are in effect covering up for the real criminals that run these illegal businesses with unaccounted-for millions.
The pea shake houses funnel $$$ into the coffers of our corrupt politicians (Carson, Drummer, Gray, Brown)...and probably pay off people like Wilson to advocate the corruption. Bottom line: they attract for drugs, prostitution, stolen goods. They pay no taxes.
I wonder if the voter fraud that gets the likes of Carson, Drummer, Gray, Brown elected is connected to those who work & frequent the pea shakes?????????
Anonymous nobody, why dont you post your anti-Semitic pro-Parker screed you spammed all over the place earlier? You still upset there wont be a rich Republican slush fund this year to pay for your scheming and scandals? At this point, you're such a deadbeat you cant even afford a 2 cent bet at a peashake!
Since the Pea Shakes don't pay taxes, and folks like Julia Carson thinks it is ok (or something _would_ be done about it), maybe white people should stop paying "their fair share" as well?
Wasn't the fact Julia didn't pay her taxes in the news??????
She had been late and promptly paid them completely with substantial penalties years ago. Next?
Does anyone dispute the fact that large sums of money are being made and laundered via the pea-shakes with no taxes being paid? This is the real problem, regardless of your political belief or color of skin.
The sad fact is the incredibly greater amount of dope money sloshing around, uncontrolled and untaxed. "Numbers" cash fades into insignificance compared to narcotics.
The ineptly fought War in Afghanistan has flooded the world with cheap heroin. The hundreds of billions squandered in Iraq have diverted resources away from controlling the drug smugglers into the USA. Sadly, in the grand scheme of things, that $29M over 4 years in Indianapolis is pretty small potatos.
The so called "War on Drugs" has been an utter failure from its inception and has crossed party-lines with its ineptitude and short-sightedness. My point is that this is about making Indianapolis a better community. The neighbors around such establishments are starting to let their voices be heard. Pea-shakes are an illegally operating gambling operation whether we'd like to think so or not. If we don't like the law the way it is written, we have options to influence or leaders to change the law. Unless, of course, our leaders are the ones profiting from such activity.
I took note that Pea Shakes are contrary to the basic tenants of THIS BLOG, which is "dedicated to the advancement of the State of Indiana by re-affirming our state's constitutional principles that: ALL PEOPLE ARE CREATED EQUAL; no religious test shall be imposed on our public officials and offices of trust; AND NO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES OR IMMUNITIES SHALL BE GRANTED to any class of citizens which are not granted on the same terms to all citizens.
Glenn Howard, Monroe Gray, Julia Carson all appear to believe that there is a special class of citizen with immunity from the commission of felony crimes. --That is just plain wrong and contrary to the basic tenants of our state and country.
Kudos to 1:20! I was sickened by Howard's racist comments about the pea shakes, when he said to go "get the white's at bingo". (Bingo is legal in Indiana). Howards blatent racism and ignorance render him unworthy of public office!!!
This blog has only one "tenant" - that being the blogowner (or is he the landlord and all others are "tenants"?)
One should be cautious about ascribing felonious conduct without proof. It's called "partisan cheapshots"...
Hey, Wilson: Why don't you read what the blog owner stated his tenants are at the top of the blog????????
1:20 gave a direct quote!
-but that doesn't matter because you try to spin facts into fiction with most of your posts.
Dear anonymous nobody @ 1:31pm - I believe the word in English you are trying to use is "tenet", not "tenant". Such egregious and comical incorrect spellings dilute the feeble force of your argumentation. Teehee!
One would think you, Wilspn are the author of the blog. No, you have have your own don't you? Are you being paid to promote corruption in Indianapolis? The public has the right to know.
Black elected officials are usually elected by over-whelming majorities. They are quite in touch with their voters. They know their constituents. These leaders know what the real problems are.
And pray tell, Wilson, since you have so much free time...
What are these black elected officials making their priority? What are they directing their attention at to meet the needs of their constituents?
Crime? Taxes? Jobs? What are they accomplishing Wilson?
I do not have my own blog - an identity thief has set up a fake blog using my name in an effort to libel me with falsehoods.
I receive no renumeration whatsoever for my writing - I do it as a civic duty. I use my name unlike some anonymous nobodies that try to highjack threads for attacks and vituperation.
Please avoid personal attacks on other commenters and stick to the topic of the thread !
The top concerns of most Black elected officials are jobs, education and public safety. A short and simple list but very difficult to solve - still, people keep working on these issues with a variety of approaches. 'Peashakes' are not high on the list of priorities when so much drug dealing is getting people killed!
Pea shake houses should be able to evade the law because black people use them?
This reminds me of black journalist Juan Williams book "Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America". http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5618023
Juan recalls a speech from Bill Cosby about Detroit African American leaders quest to reduce the penalties for using crack based upon the fact that black people tended to use crack while white people tend to use cocaine. Cosby's point was that these leaders should have been telling people not to use drugs.
Jezz Wilson, your pushing 50% on this thread.
9 out of 22 postings are yours.
Do you really have that much to contribute on this subject?
At least I consistently use my own "name" - the majority of the comments are from one or more anonymous nobodies like you. Perhaps you have posted the vast majority of the other comments? Who can tell in this morass of masked faces with false information?
It appears that Wilson is the queen of disinformation....
Disinformation is designed to manipulate the audience at the rational level by either discrediting conflicting information or supporting false conclusions.
--Wilson, you have been called out! Tell us who is paying you? Is it Julia, Mays, Drummer, Gray, or some organization all of the above belong to?
Why should I reply to an anonymous nobody? Any fool with a fake name can make any libelous statement whatsoever on the Internet. It carries no weight with civilized people..
Some homophobic bigots find safety in anonymity to attack folk here.
This thread is about peashakes but some craven cowards want to distract away from the topic by hijacking the thread onto personalities of commenters. Pitiful!
Wilson: What does the 'gay community' have to do with this thread????
This is about illegal gambling! (In case you didn't read)
Why does Wilson say that everyone who disagrees with him is a 'homophobic bigot?'
Hmmmm, since there is no such reference in this thread to 'homophobia' nor bigotry, may we assume that Wilson is engaging in a disinformation campaign on behalf of others?
The blogowner has previously "outted" pro-Democratic anonymous posters here but for some reason seems to be content to allow the most foul homophobes to post incessantly with no fear of disclosure... peculiar!
Wilson, it sometimes appears you are the one making some of the inflammatory posts against yourself anonymously so you can victimize yourself. I'm really sick of it Wilson. The gig is up. Just go get your own blog. You come on here and other blogs and personally attack everyone who expresses a point of view different from your's and then scream bloody murder when someone attacks you back.
Considering I never post from any IP address except my stable IP address on my cable modem, you are certainly making a stretch. Still, if you appreciate covering up for well-known homophobes like Jocelyn Tandy, that's your choice. Myopic to be sure but you Republicans have to stick together!
I do get upset when antigay slurs are bandied about casually. It doesnt bother you? Pecuiar!
Hmmm....pecuiuar? It's WilsonSpeak.
I'm glad to know the priorities of black elected officials, thorugh their official spokesman, Wilson.
According to BEO spokesman Wilson, public safety is in the hit parade of issues.
Here's a riddle, Sir Wilson:
Does illegal activity, drug needles/trash in the yard, multiple rapid-fire automatic weapons, boarded-up windows, and thousands of dollars in siezed cash, collectively, constitute a public nuisance, thus a threat to public safety?
The clear answer is yes.
The selective indignation shown on this issue is startling, inconsistent and foolish.
These improperly-operating gambling houses are a scourge on their neighborhoods. If they're so legit, why do they board up the windows, and install sophisticated surveillance systems?
Hypocrite, thy name is Wilson.
Here are facts:
Peashakes operate illegally.
Revenue from peashakes needs to be laundered to become fungible.
Laundering requires registration and licensing of false business entities.
Laundering also requires the participation of finance entities who agree to turn a blind eye to questionable accounting - usually under a handshake agreement that sizeable balances will be maintained, which allow for significant bank profit under our fractional banking system. That is the bank's motivation to take a risk, under the terms that it will claim ignorance saying that accounts were reviewed and business licenses were verified.
These activities require protection on three levels:
Business/Financial - the banks and illegal entity (peashake) operators must work in collusion to ensure that their transactions and the laundering process continue unfettered. That means that they must work together to provide...
Political Protection - Any illegal operation that has broad public exposure MUST have protection of higher level political operatives in order to keep federal, state, and local legal authorities from convening grand juries and handing down endictments. This level of activity absolutely requires some forms of political leverage. Some of these include favors or promises of position, monetary pay-offs (bribery), blackmail, the operation benefits the ideology of the political representative, or some combination of the four. In the case of well known operations such as the peashake houses, it must be assumed that there is some political motivation at the highest levels of state, local, and possibly federal levels that applies some combination of the four lead types of influence peddling. Logic dictates that if that were not the case, the illegal operations would have been closed long ago.
Law Enforcement - The goal of influencing politicians in any laundering or racketeering scheme is ultimately to support the necessary influence of law enforcement. The reasons for this are self-evident. This is also the riskiest part of any illegal influence peddling venture in a large operation because it can't possibly include all law enforcement officers. That means that there needs to be a procedure in place to limit arrests and to "clean up" any information that might reveal a larger or more organized enterprise. The recently publicized attempt to scrub an IMPD police report reveals that such a police oversight operation is currently in place in Indianapolis.
Another technique that is commonly used to protect illegal activity is to influence citizens to stop using logic and to respond emotionally instead. Logic dictates that a series of crimes at high levels are required to operate peashake houses without legal intervention and to launder the funds that are derived from illegal gambling. By appealing to emotions, such as race relations and class distinction, those who seek to protect peashake operations can appeal to emotional soft spots and defer serious community disapproval by attempting to alienate community members who are supposedly "insensitive" to a so-called need for racial or class harmony.
Every single point that I've made is applicable to some degree with regard to the peashake houses. There is no racial issue with regards to determining whether a crime or a series of crimes is being committed. It also takes no genius to determine that the peashakes are located in low income neighborhoods because the operators are preying upon the desparation of their victims, who are willing to risk what money they DO have in order for a chance at a few dollars more.
There is simply no moral defense for them. None. I seriously question the integrity and motivations of anyone who would defend them. I would also question the intelligence of these people, but I don't want to be insulting, so I'll stick with integrity and motivation. You who defend peashakes are questionable individuals.
"Black elected officials are usually elected by over-whelming majorities."
So what? Just because the margin of victory you win by is high doesn't mean you'll be a competent elected official.
I should have said RE-elected by overwhelming majorities which indicates voter satisfaction with job performance and lack of serious and viable opposition.
The above lengthy commenter is quite accurate in its descriptions of the problems associated with peashakes. The same bad effects are infinitely greater from dope dealing. The point however is that there are often more major problems like drug dealing for authorities to deal with. A neighbors barking dog might be annoying but a neighborhood arsonist is infinitely more dangerous. Peashakes get a few folk agitated but narcotics trafficking is where the real danage lies ...
BRAVO! 903 AM.
BRAVO!
To quote wilson: "Peashakes get a few folk agitated but narcotics trafficking is where the real danage lies ..."
Mr. Wilson, Go see for yourself the drug dealing, prostitution, the selling of stolen items, drunkeness, littering, etc. that occurs on and near the pea-shakes when they are operating. Go park your car in the 3300 block of N. Central Ave. (if you can find a parking space) when you see a large crowd gathered on the sidewalk waiting to get inside. Get out and mingle with the crowd.
Walk around back in the alley and tell us what you find. Inquire as to where you can purchase heroin, crack, marijuana, or stolen goods.
You make a good point that drug trafficing is a more serious crime, however, you fail to realize that pea-shake houses are a breeding ground for all sorts of criminal activity. Go check it out. If your white, be careful walking in the alley.
Wilson-
If you're going to cite people's poor spelling you may want to learn how to properly use punctuation.
Alas, Indiana is a breeding ground for improper punctuation and grammar.
My son's principal sent home a note last week, that, in three paragraphs, contained 11 errors of syntax, punctuation or spelling.
Common around these parts is the improper practice of making anything plural with an apostrophe. Irritating as hell.
As an undergrad English major, I can attest that Wilson often uses grammar and punctuation very well indeed. Logic, not so. But punctuation is often good.
There is, then, the fat thumbs on the Blackberrry keyboard, a common problelm of mine...which often leads to typos.
And no amount of proper punctuation makes peashakes good.
Wilson,
I'm glad to see that you can recognize irrefutable logic.
With regards to peashakes vs narcotics, that point is non sequitur. Law enforcement is obligated to enforce the law and to prevent known criminal behavior from continuing. Suggesting that peashakes shouldn't be closed in the face of narcotics trafficking is parallel to suggesting that speeders shouldn't be ticketed because of muggers. The argument holds no water.
Additionally, if I were a betting man I'd wager that crime rates within a 10 block radius of every peashake declines measurably if a legitimate indictment process were brought down on ALL of the operators, political enablers, and beneficiaries of the peashakes. In fact, I'd bet a years worth of lunches on it - winner chooses the venue.
Unfortunately, under current circumstances I doubt that I'll claim my prize. Until somebody with a set of cajones shows up in a city or state prosecutors office, or the media in Indianapolis clearly explains to the public how the continuity of illegal gambling is allowed as I have plainly demonstrated, nothing will change.
Which reminds me that I've left out one of the key ingredients to the most successfull forms of money laundering and political corruption - media complicity. For example, when Congress discovered that HUD could not account for a missing $59 billion dollars, the news media in the US was relatively silent. Why? It goes back to Assistant HUD Director Catherine Austin Fitts discovered during the Bush I administration (she was appointed by Bush) that grossly inflated service charges were being paid by HUD to service HUD loans to numerous national banking entities. At $59 billion dollars of finance capital, the total returns to the beneficiaries translated to over $1 trillion dollars in profits.
And what was Fitts' reward for uncovering the fraud? HUD launched a 5 year investigation against her in retaliation for her implementation of new software that would make it impossible to inflate costs to loan service providers. And how did the national media respond throughout the course of these events, to Citibank as one of the primary beneficiaries, and to the Clinton/Gore Administration who resumed the practice when they took over the White House? Hardly a peep.
My belief is that Indystar has taken the same approach to the peashakes. Their angle has been damage control ever since the altered police report appeared on the radar. If they wanted to give true coverage and use their influence in the manner of a good steward they could easily draw the connections between laundering, finance, politicical influence, and law enforcement for general public consumption. But no, the Indianapolis Star would rather stick to race baiting and applying false logic to justify the presence of the peashakes.
So I stand corrected regarding my earlier post. I forgot to mention the importance of a complicit media in maintaining a large cover-up. With annual laundered proceeds approaching $29 million or greater, meaning that invested proceeds could net $300 million or greater for a bank under our fractional banking system, I'm sure that some big financial players might have some influences over one or two newspaper editor.
The Indianapolis Star has the ability to blow the peashake corruption out of the water. Their refusal to do so should be an eye-opener to anyone who wonders how much truth we really get.
Well, shorebreak, you seem to be the only person in Indianapolis or the entire State of Indiana for that matter, who completely understands how numbers racketeering operates. Sorry if I offended anyone by calling these operations numbers racketeering instead of pea shake houses but it IS organized crime.
I have followed these threads on the shake houses on about every blog and not one person but you shoreland and Gary here at Advance know what the whole thing's about.
There is a very defined power structure here in Indianapolis and that power structure is behind the numbers racket as well as other operations. Although these shake houses operate in primarily black areas I do not believe that blacks control the games. They only run them. My money's on whites controlling the numbers game in Indianapolis using the race card when it benefits all who are in the loop. Money doesn't care if a person's black or white. Money is money and someone or some group in Indianapolis is making one helluva lot of it.
I agree, don't look for the local news media or local law enforcement to blow this thing out of the water until it gets to the point that they are forced to deal with it. That day may be coming sooner rather than later.
What I wouldn't give to know who the person is that runs the numbers racket in Indy. Who is the person at the top?? It can't be the usual suspects, it has to be someone completely above the fray. Someone completely beyond reproach and well respected. Anyone care to guess who the Policy King of Indianapolis is?
3:23, You ask the right questions.
I know how the game works because I follow the Congressional Record for much of my news. Most people in this country don't understand how the game works - that ignorance isn't restricted to Indiana. And there's a reason for it. The folks at the top of the food chain don't want the average citizen to understand even the very basics of fractional economics. That leads to too many questions.
For example, in what high school or college economics class are the students taught that our reserve banking system means that banks must hold only a "reserve" of capital in order to issue a loan? This reserve amount is established by the Federal Reserve based upon it's arrangement with the lending bank, typically ranging between 7 and 14% of the value of the loan. Taking an average of 10%, that means that a lending institution must hold 10% of it's loans in actual capital. The remaining 90% of the loan is "paper" (nowadays you might call it electronic). It doesn't become real cash until the borrower repays the loan, meaning that the bank earns about 10 times the amount it held in reserve, unless the borrower puts 10% or greater down, meaning that the banks doesn't dip into any of it's own capital to issue a "loan". I place loan in "quotes" because it's almost a misnomer to use that term - the money is actually fabricated at that time by the lending institution under the terms of the Federal Reserve Act. Most people don't understand that this is the reason that interest rates control inflation by limiting or expanding the demand for loans and thereby impacting the number of excess dollars that are placed in circulation.
So why is this basic economic fact not taught in our schools or colleges? One of the answers is that it makes it clear to the average citizen how highly profitable it would be for a finance institution to look for ways to increase it's lending capital at minimum cost. Such as laundering of funds, as Bank of America was just slapped for, for laundering hundreds of millions of $$$'s worth of South American drug money.
And who is the biggest player in town, capable of influencing federal laundering investigations, state investigations, local investigations, and even media reports?
The answer is in this post - and it's probably not BoA, even though they have a regional headquarters in Indy. There's another regional branch in the city with much more financial pull than BoA, and they are the masters of the fractional banking game.
The Justice Department is reportedly involved, yet has failed to indict. The state hasn't endicted, and neither has the city. And Indy Star has refused to publish the links and the activities necessary for the peashakes to operate. Who stands to gain most from over $29 million in profits, AND who has the power to influence all of these organizations? Like I said, I've probably identified the private non-government organization in this post.
shorelink, thanks so much for your valuable insight. Hopefully, there is someone who cares enough within the federal government to do something about it. My complaint has been our local FBI office and US attorney's office have been reluctant to take up any of these matters, which seem to implicate some local power brokers. If something is happening now, the push has to be coming from outside Indy.
A clue regarding why finance looks for alternative illicit sources for loan capital, such as laundering proceeds from peashakes:
US mortgage crisis goes into meltdown
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 1:15am GMT 24/02/2007
Panic has begun to sweep the sub-prime mortgage sector in the United States after the bankruptcy of 22 lenders over the past two months, setting off mass liquidation of housing loans packaged as securities.
Here's the link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/24/cnusecon24.xml&ref=patrick.net
Our political leaders - especially members of congress and State Senators who sit on finance committees - know all too well that our finance institutions risk going belly up without "alterior" means of capital.
As I posted earlier, our media has a habit of "forgetting" to inform us about important news stories.
Shorebreak,
After a bit of research I came up with some extremely interesting information on some individuals and companies that from which we may begin to connect the dots to determine what Indianapolis power group may control the numbers racket here.
You did not specifically mention any one particular bank that may be involved so I had to go thru some odds and ends in my own old files as well as obtain some current information. You are indeed correct,Bank of America is not involved. There is only one other bank that may be involved due primarily to it's lineage.
Some of us remember the old American Fletcher National Bank (AFNB). What I found interesting about AFNB is that in 1920 it was known at that time as Fletcher American National Bank. Stoughton Fletcher ran the bank which was at that time the largest bank in Indiana. Stoughton Fletcher also sat on the board of the Paoli State Bank in Orange County. Monies made from the illegal casinos and bootleg liquer at French Lick and West Baden starting @1900 were ran thru the Paoli Bank and then on to the Fletcher American National Bank in Indianapolis. So we may accurately assume that the Fletcher family of Indianapolis and others were involved in illegal gambling and laundering money as far back as 1900 which was about the time that former Indianapolis Democratic Mayor Thomas Taggert bought the hotel and entered into the casino business along with Ballard who owned the West Baden Hotel. Money made in the Valley down there went directly to the Indianapolis power brokers and business men.
The Fletcher family was beset by a number tragedies and financial misfortune and they lost everything including Laurel Hall, their 1500 acre estate in Indianapolis (Laurel Hall eventually became headquarters for the Hudson Institute which has since moved to DC).
Eventually Fletcher American National Bank was sold and Became American Fletcher National Bank with the McKinney family of Indianapolis in control with Frank E. McKinney at the helm along with Frank M. McCale who also from Indianapolis.
In 1941 Frank McKinney Sr. took control of National Wine and Spirits,Inc. located in Indianapolis. Frank M. McHale was also involved with NWS Inc. National Wine and Spirits currently has a 54% share of all liquer sold in the entire Midwest part of the country. In 1941 NWS controlled all of the market.
So now we had the McKinney family and friends controlling not only AFNB but also NWS,Inc. They controlled the cash and they controlled the liquer. That's power! NWS, Inc. was sold to the LaCrosse family @1973.
In 1991 NWS, Inc. began to bottle Cameron Springs Water which came from springs near Attica, Indiana. NWS, Inc.then sold the label and rights for Cameron Springs to the Perrier Group for $10.4 million in cash! THE PERRIER GROUP NEVER BOTTLED ONE OUNCE OF CAMERON SPRINGS WATER! THEY PAID OVER $10 MILLION IN CASH FOR A LABEL??? WHY?? WHY DID THEY PAY THAT KIND OF CASH FOR AN UNKNOWN LABEL AND IMMEDIATELY PUT IT ON THE SHELF?? Again, enter the McKinney's and friends. The $10.4 cash was put into AFNB!
Fast forward we then find the late Frank E. McKinney Jr. of Indianapolis in charge of Amercian Fletcher National Bank. He was once very involved in state,local and national Democratic politics just as his family was. When the County went Republican with Lugar and UNIGIV came into being McKinney basically aligned with new the new Republican power structure while working the Democratic side as well. He had friends in both camps.
Eventually AFNB was bought by Bank One and the Bank One tower was built.
Then Bank One was bought by JP Morgan Chase and the old Bank One Tower is now the Chase Tower.
My theory is that for over 4 generations a group of Indianapolis bankers and business men and women have controlled the illegal numbers racket (pea shake houses) and other illegal operations in Indianapolis. The McKinney family was a huge part of it and anyone connected to them were most likely involved as well.
The number racket in Indianapolis goes back to at least 1900 and continues to this day by a very small group of extremely inluential people. What is so amazing is that the reins of power have been passed from one generation to the next without interuption. Regardless of who the elected officials were, be they Democrat or Republican this small but powerful group has ran Indianapolis for generations. Lugar knew about them. They handpicked him to run. Hudnut knew them. Goldsmith knew them and now Peterson is controlled by them.
The late Frank McKinney Jr. who died just a few years ago I believe had a hand in the Indianapolis numbers racket. But he is only one possibility and he's dead now. The question is who are the people in charge now? Who is Mayor Peterson closest too. I know he had the support of SerVaas but who is pulling Peterson's strings? Who are these people that have been taking money out of the black community for all these years? I firmly believe that black do control the numbers racket here and never have. Right now we have a possible bank and a dead former power player. The dots are starting to connect so who are the rest of these people? I don't have an answer for that but I do know that someone out there does.
Excellent Post, Anon 9:35 PM!
You're getting very close to the center of the laundering scheme. If you have any doubts, consider that Chase has a history of buying banks and finance organizations that have laundering scams in place. I've written before that laundering proceeds generate huge profits for banks, based upon the average of 10% reserve capitol required by the Federal Reserve to issue loans. In the case of the largest banks, like Chase, that Reserve is around 7%, which raises the profit margin (before interest) from around 1000% to closer to 1500%.
Chase (which is actually JP Morgan Chase) is currently in the process of purchasing the Bank of New York. The following is an update on a very recent Bank of New York laundering scheme, preceded by a link to the original:
http://www.innercitypress.org/jpmchase.html
Update of May 1, 2006: Bank of New York, which the Federal Reserve hit with a $38 million money laundering fine in 2000 (for having moved $7 billion in hot Russian money), has now settled again, without even paying a fine. The Fed and the New York Banking Department have slapped Bank of New York on its BONY wrist for new deficiencies in the bank's money laundering controls, giving it 60 days to comply with yet another order. And if it doesn't? Well, it can just settle again. This will be raised, and reviewed, in connection with JPMorgan Chase's applications to acquire 338 (presumably money laundering) branches from BONY... For or with more information, contact us.
Chase has a history of consolidating by buying organizations that have a large profit margin resulting from laundered funds. it would fit their profile to buy a bank that is currently laundering profits from the Indy area.
If you were ever to spend the time and dig through numerous news media reports you could easily demonstrate a long and indepth pattern of our largest financial institutions receiveing repeated wrist slaps for laundering, embezzlement, and reaping profits from illegal activities - such as the peashakes. You rarely - if ever - see an indepth media report that reveals all of this to the public at large, but you can do your own legwork and find a mountain of information in individual articles, reports, and court documents. Using the Indianapolis Star as an example, I show below why the extent of criminal financial activity and obfuscation is kept well hidden from public view.
Meanwhile, the following article from the UK's Gaurdian newspaper shed's some light on how Chase was involved in funneling money from false offshore entities into Enron accounts - a process that ended up eliminating the retirement funds of millions of Americans, while the bank increased it's profit margin exponentially:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4361713-110384,00.html
If you think that Indystar - a Gannett publication - is gonna dig deep into the peashake matter, think again. Gannet Board of Directors members are primarily finance insiders, including directors of investment funds, directors from Goldman Sachs (US Treasury influence), from the Asia Pacific Fund (NYSE), Carlisle (same board as Bush sr. - arms dealers and investors), Directors from large banks, including Citigroup, Sunt Trust, and Charles Schwab.
These folks have a vested interest in making sure that finance isn't implicated, or that implications are mitigated to the lowest possible extent regarding major financial organizations. And they run our nations largest newspapers. The odd story gets published, but they are typicall light on facts and they don't go national.
... there is rapidly developing in here more than a whiff of LaRouchism -
Wilson46201 said...
... there is rapidly developing in here more than a whiff of LaRouchism -
5:40 PM EST
I took a look at some LaRouche material to see exactly what you're getting at. So far, it seems that you're correct - my thoughts on finance reflect quite a bit of his efforts.
In my opinion, that only reinforces my position. When illegal funds are laundered by large financial institutions, there's a much bigger picture in place than a local peashake empire. But the peashakes fit the same mold - illegal operations that are protected by government officials, and somewhere a finance outfit is harboring the laundered money for a profit.
LaRouche or not, that's what is happening in Indianapolis.
OK - I saw elsewhere where somebody raised a peashake question regarding an organization called Centaur, Inc. Centaur is in the gambling/gaming/horse business, based in Indianapolis. Centaur and it's owners have donated thousands of dollars to candidates on both sides of the aisle in Congressional elections, including Julia Carson (D) and Bob Griffiths (R). Bank One (now owned by Chase) has contributed to the same candidates.
The owner of Centaur and his wife have also donated several thousand dollars to Bush Presidential campaigns. They obviously don't donate on ideology - they donate for political leverage.
The interesting connections here are Bank One, which earned it's presence in Indiana by purchasing a local bank that used to launder illegal gambling proceeds, the fact that Centaur Inc. is neck deep in the gambling industry, and that Carson sits on a Congressional banking committee.
I don't know that there is any direct connection between this and peashake gambling, but it is an interesting set of ties. I'd love to hear if anyone can drum up additional info on Centaur. The don't appear to have a website but they do have a media contact at Borshoff Johnson Matthews PR firm in downtown Indy. Her name is Myra Borshoff Cook and she can be reached at 317-710-2127.
The direct line to Centaur is listed as (317) 656-8787.
If I were investigating the peashake case, using a standard relational logic process I'd flag this group as someone who should be looked at to determine their history and their financial disclosures. I'm not saying that they have any involvement whatsoever, but starting out blind, these are the kinds of leads I'd be chasing down in a process of elimination.
Just a little bit of food for thought.
Shorebreak,
Please be advised that Bose Public Affairs ( a sub of Bose McKinney Law Firm0 handles lobbying and "whatever it takes" for Centaur, Inc.
The new Marion County Democratic Party Chairman, Mike O'Connor, works for Bose. Of course O'Conner was the Mayor's first Deputy Mayor. O'Connor is doing the lobbying for Centaur to get the 2,500 slots in at both of the Indiana Tracks.
Howard Peterson, The Mayor's father, owned a stable of Standardbred race horses at his Viking Meadow Farms up @Carmel. Howard Peterson may be on the board with Centaur. Howard Peterson with the late Ralph Wilfong were the two biggest individual developers in the beginning of Castleton and Carmel's growth. The Mayor comes from serious money.
Knowing now that Mike O'Connor is doing the down and dirty for Centaur you can be certain that there will be 2,500 slots each at the two tracks. Of course another developer with ties to Peterson is Paul Estridge of Hoosier Downs.
My gut feeling is that O'Connor is tied in with the numbers racket in Indianapolis as the go between.
Churchill Downs Inc sold there 62% share in Hoosier Park to Centaur for a measly $8.2 million. How much do you think Centaur and O'Connor will make when the slots are approved and Centaur sell the whole operation back to CDI or someone else.
This is all one helluva tangled web but some of the players are starting to float to the surface.
BTW, I understand the Julia Carson hates O'Connor's guts. I wonder why? Could it be the cabals take from the shake house operation went up when Bart came in?
What I wouldn't give to see O'Connor in front of a Grand Jury.
Something else that I find interesting regarding Centaur. There are many similarities in their funding of candidates on both sides of the political aisle in a similar manner to Jack Abramoff.
For example, after a few minutes of digging I've found that between 1999 and 2006 the owners of Centaur have contributed at least $37,000 to national level Democrat campaigns, including Julian Carson, Al Gore, Baron Hill, The Democrat National Campaign Committee, Maria Cantwell, and others.
In the same time frame, they also contributed at least $26,000 to Republican campaigns, including George Bush, Republican State Leadership Committee, Bob Griffiths, Jeff Linder, and Paul Helmke.
That doesn't include the majority of contributions that were made by the Centaur Inc. corporation, or other officers of that business. Nor does it include State and local officials who received funding from the same folks.
Quite an "interesting" organization.
FYI - I've noticed that soon after Centaur was mentioned on the Indystar comment section, all 190 or so comments on the peashake article (linked in this blog post) seem to have dissappeared. Very interesting.
Correction - the "comment" section is back up at the Indystar site. It was gone earlier this morning.
Adjust your tinfoil hats - it's getting thick in here !
No tinfoil wilson46201. Just got off the phone with a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal who's been watching this thread for several weeks. Lunch tommorrow at the Skyline Club will be interesting.
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