KC residents file claims in 2006 raffle fraud case

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- People who bought tickets in a bogus 2006 charity raffle to win a luxurious home in Parkville, Mo., have begun filing claims in hopes of getting some of their money back.

The Missouri Attorney General's office said it has received about 530 claims from Kansas City-area residents who shelled out $1,000 per ticket for the contest sponsored by St. Louis-based Gateway to a Cure. The charity sold 1,409 tickets for the Kansas City raffle that supposedly was raising money for spinal cord injury research.

The Kansas City claims are among several the office is handling as it seeks to enforce a January 2007 default judgment against Gateway, which sponsored three other raffles across the state, that it pay $3.7 million in restitution and penalties for defrauding customers.

John Fougere, a spokesman for Attorney General Jay Nixon, said it's unknown when ticket buyers will get any refunds as authorities are still trying to track down all of Gateway's assets.

"Our main concern has always been for the consumers who were wronged; that is why our office is actively seeking to identify assets held by the charity to ensure that as much of the default judgment is paid," Fougere said.

Gateway never awarded the top prize, a $1.3 million house in Parkville overlooking a golf course.

Nixon claims Gateway never owned the house or many of the other valuable prizes it offered and filed a civil lawsuit against it; its president, Carl Sengheiser; and local organizer Mary M. Bolling. A circuit judge later determined the charity had engaged in deception and fraud.

A grand jury in March indicted Sengheiser on 22 counts of mail fraud and said he used some of the money generated through Gateway raffles to pay personal expenses.

Sengheiser committed suicide in early November in St. Louis while waiting for a jury's verdict on federal fraud charges.

Under a consent judgment reached last month, Bolling, who oversaw ticket sales in the Kansas City raffle, was ordered in December to pay $5,000 restitution and permanently bans her from raising funds, conducting raffles or serving as a not-for-profit director in Missouri.

She said she cooperated with prosecutors as they reviewed the charity's financial records and her personal finances.

"I was relieved that they did such a thorough search," she told The Kansas City Star for a story in Sunday's editions. "And it was determined that no mishandling of [local] funds occurred."

Bolling said she got involved with Gateway to raise money for medical research but had no control over how officials in St. Louis were using the funds. She said she's had to pay a price in legal fees and lost reputation.

"It's been a horrible experience for me," she said. "It hurts."

The Bolling order ended a year and a half of legal fighting over Gateway's activities in Missouri and other states.

The Kansas City raffle, which started in 2003, offered the house and seven runner-up prizes, including a Maserati Spyder sports car, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a grandfather clock and a baby grand piano.

Problems started on Valentine's Day 2006 when 500 people showed up to hear the winning names be drawn but the grand prize was pushed back several times. The grand prize winner, identified as S. Clark of Texico, Ill., never made a public appearance to collect the house and later agreed to an undisclosed cash settlement.