Galvin opens lobbying inquiry
Treasurer's friend being investigated
Secretary of State William F. Galvin opened an investigation yesterday into the work that a close friend and political confidant of state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill performed for a Rhode Island gaming company that is seeking to land lucrative contracts with the Massachusetts Lottery.
Galvin's lobbying regulatory division opened the inquiry in response to reports that Thomas F. Kelly had worked from June 2007 until recent months as a "business development agent" to help Bingo Innovative Software get chosen by the Lottery to develop an online bingo-type game.
"Questions have been raised as to whether Thomas Kelly was paid by Bingo Innovative Software to influence the public procurement of services by the Lottery," Galvin said in a statement after he sent letters to Kelly and the company asking for documentation of his work.
Under the contract, which was reviewed by the Globe, the gaming firm agreed to hire Kelly in June 2007 to "create business opportunities" at the Massachusetts Lottery, which Cahill operates. It specified that Kelly was not to function as a lobbyist.
But the company's lawyer, Leon Blais, said Kelly was hired specifically to use his strong relationship and influence with Cahill, as well as with the managers of the lottery to help the firm compete for work. He said the provision in the contract barring him from lobbying was "self serving" language inserted by Kelly, not by Bingo Innovative. He said Kelly indicated he was in close contact with Cahill and others.
"He made claims he was in communication with both the lottery staff and the treasurer, giving my clients progress reports, based on conversations with the treasurer and with Lottery officials," Blais said when contacted to comment on Galvin's investigation. Kelly could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Bingo Innovative terminated Kelly's contract in the fall when it learned from news reports that he also was on the payroll of a competitor,
Cahill declined to talk with the Globe. His first deputy, Grace Lee, denied that Kelly had influenced any lottery decisions on contracting for bingo games, adding that the agency rejected bids by the firm and Scientific Games in late 2007.
Lee said she had no knowledge that Kelly had talked to Cahill on Bingo Innovative's behalf and that Kelly never contacted her. "I have no idea what conversations took place, but if they did, it does not matter, because it was clearly ineffective. Neither of them got any work," she said.
If an investigation determines Kelly lobbied, Kelly could face questions over his compensation package, which included a percentage of a successful bid, according to the contract reviewed by the Globe. It is illegal for registered lobbyists to agree to be paid based on the success of their lobbying, according to a statute intended to prevent corruption. 