Texas Scorecard by Daniel Greer February 13, 2025
The Texas Lottery appears to have taken part in a money laundering operation, but Executive Director Ryan Mindell doesn’t seem to care.During a firework-filled Senate Finance Committee hearing, Ryan Mindell, the current executive director of the Texas Lottery, was sharply criticized by lawmakers for not answering questions, having a flippant attitude toward correcting issues within his rogue agency, and ignoring allegations that the lottery was used to launder $25 million in 2023.
The Lottery Commission has been embroiled in scandal for the past three years after a $95 million jackpot was rigged with their help. Since then, it has done nothing to alter the perception that it is acting in bad faith, outside the law, while ignoring legislative intent.
Mindell did not help his or the Texas Lottery’s cause. In fact, on multiple occasions, senators not so subtly suggested that the commissioners who oversee the agency should find better help or, at the very least, ignore the agency’s executive director.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) pursued a particularly alarming line of questioning, first with Mindell and then, when he refused to answer a direct question, his bosses, about the potential use of the Texas Lottery to launder money during a 2023 drawing.
Bettencourt, who said he “hadn’t been mad all session but was about ready to,” called the three commissioners in attendance up to ask them one by one if the 2023 drawing appeared to be money laundering. All three agreed.
After receiving straightforward answers to his questions, Bettencourt stated he did not ever want to have an agency head come to the Capitol again, only for lawmakers to have to use neutron weapons by bringing his oversight board up to get an obvious question answered.
It should be noted that Mindell inaccurately told Bettencourt that the $25 million spent on the April 2023 lottery was merely bulk purchasing activity, “not courier activity.” In truth, it was bulk purchasing carried out by so-called couriers, using technology that was not approved by the Texas Lottery.
Mindell has played coy for the past year when asked about illicit lottery ticket resellers (who have branded themselves as couriers) operating in the state. In this approach, he is continuing the legacy of his predecessor at the Lottery Commission, a point noted by State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock).
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/analysis/analysis-texas-senators-drop-a-neutron-bomb-on-the-texas-lottery-commission/
