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The Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem
P.O. 67903, Los Angeles CA
90067
310 910-9153
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In
1988, Irving Moskowitz, a retired MD and local hospital owner, bought
the non-profit Hawaiian Gardens Bingo Club, on Carson Street, the
city’s main thoroughfare. The City Council gave his family-controlled
Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation a monopoly on charitable bingo, which
persists to this day, even though Moskowitz never lived up to his
promise to donate most of the proceeds locally. He simply recalled
or ran candidates against City Council members who challenged his
monopoly and continued to run the taxpayer-subsidized bingo as a private
piggy bank. more... |
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The links below point to in-depth sections
that show how Moskowitz has exploited the small community
of Hawaiian Gardens, plus links to a damning state legislative
report on Moskowitz's gambling operations.
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Non-profit profiteering in Hawaiian Gardens
Dr. Irving Moskowitz has made much of his reputation as a philanthropist in his bid to win approval to operate his Hawaiian Gardens casino. But Moskowitz’s track record of less-than-charitable activity in Hawaiian Gardens belies his self-image of an altruistic benefactor – a careful examination of his financial records and those of his non-profit foundation show that the majority of his contributions resulted in either financial gain or increased political influence for himself.
What follows is an excerpt from a forthcoming Coalition for Justice white paper explaining how Irving Moskowitz has used his Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation and other ostensibly non-profit organizations to his own benefit in Hawaiian Gardens. We have carefully sifted through foundation IRS forms, court and property records, lease agreements, the California state business registry as well as conducting numerous interviews with community leaders in our effort to follow a money trail proving Moskowitz has engaged in non-profit profiteering in Hawaiian Gardens.
Click here to read more.
Update: Since posting this report on our website, more information has come to light that strongly suggests that Moskowitz's non-profit Tri-City Regional Medical Center is in violation of Internal Revenue Service rules qualifying health care providers for tax-exemption. (Click here to read more…)
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Moskowitz's
"charity" bingo
Over the years, the bingo club has netted tens of millions
of dollars and Moskowitz has funneled the bulk of the money
to extremist Israeli causes
[see Blocking
Mideast Peace]
By contrast, Moskowitz's use of bingo funds in Hawaiian Gardens
has been strategically stingy. Moskowitz gave multi-million
dollar donations from the bingo to organizations in Hawaiian
Gardens - they just happened to go mainly to the hospital Moskowitz
owns and the food bank he and his family control. Moskowitz's
bingo operation has in the past supported the Hawaiian Gardens
government. But that was from 1995 to 1997, while he campaigned
for approval of his casino. In 1999 his total giving to the
city was $35,000!
The bingo operation takes advantage
of a state law that requires that bingo parlors must be charities,
staffed by volunteers. The Moskowitz Foundation staffs the
bingo with immigrant "volunteers" who work set schedules only
for tips – no wages or benefits. MALDEF, the Mexican
American Legal Defense and Education Fund, is suing the Moskowitz
bingo on behalf of 24 unpaid bingo workers.
[see MALDEF
Suit]
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Irving Moskowitz
used his bingo to hijack Hawaiian Gardens' political life and
its
development funds
If he gets a long-pending casino license, he will continue
to snatch this community’s future.
In the mid-1990s, Irving Moskowitz used his "charity" bingo
to gain political control of Hawaiian Garden, a predominantly
Latino, low-income city. He then put the City millions of dollars
in debt to build his casino.
California's gambling authority is
in the process of deciding whether to license Moskowitz's
casino. We believe Moskowitz should not get the license, because
it would mean the government endorses his abuse of Hawaiian
Gardens. Based on the business practices Moskowitz’s
has employed in running his bingo parlors, we are certain
that if he gets a license, Moskowitz will not pay the casino
taxes to Hawaiian Gardens, and instead will leave residents
to pay off the casino’s debts! Click here to see how.
[see DDA]
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Moskowitz's
Hawaiian Gardens Casino
In 1993, Moskowitz pushed through a sweetheart deal with the
Hawaiian Gardens Community Redevelopment Agency to develop what, at
the time, everyone thought would be a large retail complex. But by
1995, Moskowitz was backing a ballot measure on a casino—spending
over $500,000, almost $200 a vote, much of it to street gang "campaign
workers."
Hawaiian Gardens took a financial beating from the development of
the casino. The 1993 deal stuck left the city's Redevelopment Agency
paying many costs commonly born by developers. The financial burden
so drained the Agency that its auditors warned it might go belly up.
The City Council bailed out the Agency with more than $3 million.
Then, with the casino still unfinished, the city borrowed $3.5 million
from Dr. Moskowitz to finance additional Agency spending on the casino.
The city then floated bonds to pay the debts that Moskowitz forced
it to incur – including a million-dollar bill from his lawyers.
The bonds are secured by the very casino revenue taxes which once
promised prosperity – and which [see
DDA]
we believe Moskowitz will probably stop
paying if the state gives him a gambling license.
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following on this page are news stories. Use the links on the
left to learn more on other pages in this section... |
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The
Bingo Connection
by Christopher D. Cook
01 September 2000
Mother Jones
“Like all bingos in the state, the Hawaiian
Gardens club is run by a not-for-profit foundation. But while most
bingos raise less than $100,000 a year for local churches and schools,
Hawaiian Gardens is neither small nor local. The operator of the club
has made international headlines for inflaming tensions in the Middle
East.” Meanwhile, residents are struggling to make ends meet
serve as “volunteers” in the bingo club, working solely
for tips. This article looks at the Hawaiian Gardens bingo club and
casino and controversial business dealings of Irving Moskowitz. It
also gives background on Moskowitz's life and a brief history of the
city of Hawaiian Gardens.
The
Last Good Cop
by Ron Russell
18 February 1999
New Times Los Angeles
Walter McKinney, the former Hawaiian Gardens
police chief, lost his job in a tale of justice run amok involving
the local Mexican Mafia prison gang. The good cop lost his job in
a combustible combination of local politics, Sheriff's Department
resentment, an exceedingly aggressive district attorney's office,
and a judicial system that, in the end, chose to punish an exemplary
cop's lapse of judgment with its eyes closed.
California
Bingo Hall Plays on World Stage
by Charlie LeDuff
25 November 2002
The New York Times
“This is a rundown town in the rundown
eastern corner of Los Angeles County. Besides the palm trees, little
here suggests Hawaii,” begins the report, which focuses on the
massive, purportedly charitable Hawaiian Gardens bingo operated by
"the reclusive and wealthy doctor, Irving I. Moskowitz," and the poor,
predominantly Latino city, where Moskowitz also has a for-profit casino.
Controversy
in a Small, Casino Town
by Douglas P. Shuit
25 March 1999
Los Angeles Times
"The physician considered by some to be the city
of Hawaiian Gardens' absentee landlord is stirring the pot again.
This time, Irving Moskowitz -- who controls legal gambling in Hawaiian
Gardens and keeps the city alive by funneling millions of dollars
in gifts through a charitable foundation -- is said to be the force
behind the abrupt resignation of City Atty. Julia Sylva. And the city
attorney is not going quietly."
Hawaiian
Gardens Card Club Faces Legal Wrangle
by Joe Segura
24 March 1999
Long Beach Press-Telegram
This story reports that Hawaiian Gardens' assembly
member called for a review of Hawaiian Gardens card-club development
plan. It also reports that city attorney Julia Sylva, a Moskowitz
opponent, resigned after a new solidly pro-Moskowitz government took
office.
"HAWAIIAN GARDENS - Assemblyman Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, said
Wednesday he wants to review Hawaiian Gardens' card-club development
plan to determine whether state law restrictions on public-fund use
is being ignored. The city's Redevelopment Agency has been involved
with Irving Moskowitz for the past few years in an effort to build
a multimillion dollar card club - and the city's tab has reached about
the halfway mark of a potential $20 million bill, according to former
City Attorney Julia Sylva." Meanwhile, as a new, solidly pro-Moskowitz
government took office, Julia Sylva, the Hawaiian Gardens city attorney
long at odds with Moskowitz' attorney and local potentate Beryl Weiner,
resigned. [The coalition heard residents say that, if Sylva hadn't
resigned before the first meeting of the new City Council, she'd have
been fired during that meeting.] "
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