Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A man accused of violating North Dakota's gambling laws has been banned from
charitable gambling in the state, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says.
Gary Minard, who maintains a residence in Bismarck but now works primarily
in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, agreed to the ban as part of a settlement
of the state's lawsuit against him and the nonprofit IQ Fund. Stenehjem said
Minard also must give $64,546 to charity and pay $15,000 to the attorney
general's office.
Kent Morrow, Minard's attorney, said Minard admitted no wrongdoing. "Rather
than spend additional time and money, it was more reasonable to resolve it
this way," he said. "He's always maintained that there was nothing
improper." Stenehjem said Minard operated the IQ Fund, formerly known as
Pinto Spirit Development and Bear Soldier Industries, which ran a charitable
gambling operation in Bismarck. Stenehjem said a 2004 investigation by his
office's Gaming Division concluded Minard had used fraud to obtain a
gambling license for a site in West Fargo. In October 2004, the nonprofit IQ
Fund agreed to surrender its gambling license for Smoky's Steakhouse in West
Fargo. The following June, the state sued the IQ Fund, seeking to force it
to turn in the $64,546 in proceeds from gambling activity. The state lawsuit
also included other allegations, including claims that Minard filed false
gambling tax returns and set up a sham bank account in Minnesota to deceive
the attorney general's office. "There is no place for dishonest people in
charitable gaming," Stenehjem said Monday in a statement. "Fortunately,
Minard's lies and mismanagement were quickly discovered and addressed with
prompt enforcement action." Morrow said the allegations in the lawsuit were
never proven. "There were never any lies or mismanagement," he said. The
attorney general's office also reached a settlement with Damiana Markel, of
Mandan, another IQ Fund board member. Markel, whom officials described as "a
very minor player," is banned from charitable gambling in the state for five
years.