Bingo Operator in Sun Valley to Give Up License

The operator of the largest bingo hall in Los Angeles has agreed to give up his license after an investigation by city inspectors indicated that the operator failed to report all the money taken in.

Dr. Robert Riley, executive director of the United Funding Organization, which runs the hall in Sun Valley, denied that any income had been concealed. Riley said he will give up the license because anticipated changes in city ordinances would close down his bingo games in any case.

Riley reached a settlement Thursday with the Department of Social Services, agreeing to end the three-night-a-week bingo games June 12. Robert Burns, department director, said that in return, the city will halt an investigation and will not press charges of “unreported sales,” a violation of state laws and city ordinances.

Bingo games are limited by law to raising money for charity. Records must be kept showing how much money is taken in and how it is spent.

Burns said investigators counted 6,075 bingo players at the hall at 8330 Lankershim Blvd. during 12 games in March, but United Funding Organization records reported 5,288 players for that period.

Based on an average cost of $40 per player for the paper cards used to play bingo, an estimated $31,480 went unreported, Burns said.

Riley denied the charge, saying that some people do not play and attend the games only to eat the $5 buffet.

Riley said his organization was relinquishing its license because the City Council is considering a reduction in the number of days when a license holder can offer games, cutting the three days per week to one.

Burns confirmed that about a dozen suggested changes in ordinances governing bingo will go before the council’s Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee on June 13, including the reduction in playing days.

Another proposed amendment would require that licenses be denied to applicants who do not have a 3-year association with a charitable organization. United Funding Organization is the only one of the city’s 81 bingo license holders that does not have a direct tie to a charitable organization, Burns said.

10.4% Donated to Charity

United Funding, created in July, took in $438,000 in April and contributed $45,489, or 10.4%, to charity, including Holy Cross Hospital, the San Fernando Mission, the American Diabetes Assn. and an Optimist Club, Burns said.

The rest of the money went for prizes and to cover the expense of running the games, Riley said.

Riley, a dentist and member of the Downey school board, said he had “every reason to believe” that more restrictive ordinances would be adopted by the City Council. “You can’t operate a big game on one night a week; you need to have three days to make a profit.”

It has not been determined whether United Funding will continue, Riley said.

The bingo parlor that United Funding leases from Bingo Corp. of America for $1,200 per night is the largest in the city, with a capacity of 923 people, Burns said.

“I know charitable bingo, and I guarantee that many charities are delighted that UFO is gone, solely because it makes 8330 Lankershim available,” Burns said. “Bingo involves competition among charities and, in Los Angeles, it’s a ‘devil take the hindmost’ situation.”

At United Funding’s offices, volunteer Al Desser said: “The phone’s been ringing all day long since word got out. Other charities have been asking what they have to do to rent the hall.”