By:  Diane Benjamin

One of the 5 charged in connection with the Coliseum pleaded guilty yesterday.  See this Pantagraph story:   https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/guilty-former-bloomington-arena-official-gets-fine-probation-after-plea/article_00b6cb16-2aeb-5558-9614-2a50e543d503.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-2

One part of the story doesn’t make any sense:

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I hope these numbers aren’t what the entire case against the five is based on.  The commissions don’t make any sense either.

According to the CIAM contract, commissions on concessions range from 32% to 38% depending on gross sales.

10% is nowhere in the contract.  If $102,571 was removed from the vault it was likely concession cash.  That means the City was shorted at least $32,823, not $10,000.

The amount of theft I found as a result of my 2015 lawsuit was considerably higher.  This story is from August 26, 2016:    https://blnnews.com/2016/08/26/bombshell-sit-down-before-reading/

I’m thrilled Jay Laesch will be testifying against the other defendants.  I expected somebody to flip long before they racked up what is likely huge legal bills.

Keep in mind:

None of this theft would have been possible if David Hales had checked concession receipts on the City owned point of sales equipment.  The contract did nothing to prevent him from doing it, contrary to what anyone at the City claims.  It’s absurd to think the City wasn’t allowed to oversee the operation of their building.  Also keep in mind the City Council knew the facts, but refused to do anything about the allegations.

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