The Attorney General’s Office in Washington, D.C. is currently investigating a $215 million no-bid contract awarded to Intralot in July 2019 to operate the district’s sportsbook betting monopoly. According to sources close to the investigation as reported by Axios D.C., individuals working for the top legal officer in the jurisdiction submitted an information request regarding the deal in the summer of 2023.
Intralot originally began operating the district’s lottery in 2009 before eventually winning the contract from the D.C. Lottery to run the sole districtwide sports betting app a decade later. The Greece-based company partnered with Veteran Services Corporation to develop the GambetDC app, which faced several years of poor performance. This led to FanDuel briefly taking over before other private operators were allowed to launch districtwide in July 2024.
The investigation into the Intralot contract is just one of several controversies surrounding the awarding of government contracts in Washington, D.C. Another notable case involved Councilmember Trayon White accepting bribes from an FBI informant and lottery contractor named Allieu Kamara. Kamara, who pleaded guilty in August to bribing district officials and fraud, provided installation services for Intralot’s equipment and “staff augmentation services for managed warehousing.”
Overall, the situation highlights the need for transparency and accountability in the awarding of government contracts to ensure that taxpayer funds are being used appropriately and ethically. It also underscores the importance of thorough oversight and investigation when concerns arise regarding the handling of public contracts.