VFW chief fined over membership list

The commander of an Indiana Veterans of Foreign Wars post said the state is set to fine him for his refusal to provide a state gaming investigator a post membership list.

John Bultman, a partially disabled Marine Vietnam combat veteran and commander of VFW Post 651 in Muncie, told WorldNetDaily that when he set out to renew the post’s bingo permit, he was asked for a membership list that contained every member’s name, address and telephone number.

“We applied for a bingo permit … and the Indiana Department of Revenue Charity Gaming Commission sent an investigator to Muncie. She wanted our workers charity license and the usual stuff, then asked for the complete membership list complete with addresses and phone numbers,” Bultman said. “I refused, as I’m responsible for the integrity of my membership’s privacy.”

The Marine vet said the state investigator told him she “couldn’t understand this and would file a report.” A few days later, “she returned and stated that we had been refused the license and that I was personally fined $1,000 for obstructing the investigation.”

He added: “She did not mention that there would be a penalty for not providing the list.”

Bultman said the agent, Denise Klinkose, “gave me a paper that said the post was responsible” for the fine. Messages were left for Klinkose, but she did not return phone calls.

“Upon asking further,” Bultman said, “she stated that I was the one that will ultimately be held accountable. I told her that I wasn’t giving her the list and that I wasn’t paying any fine, whereupon she said that by not paying the fine I would be in contempt of the court and that I could be incarcerated.”

He said he then “asked her to leave.” He noted that a hearing into the case has been scheduled by the department for next month.

“I wasn’t contacted for the hearing, wasn’t told of penalties for not providing the membership list, and [I was] told I had 72 hours to file an appeal or it would be an additional $100 per day fine added to the original $1,000,” Bultman – who is also active in other civic activities – told WND.

Diane Freeman, administrator of the compliance division of the department’s Charity Gaming Section, confirmed that the state “requires a list or membership roster” in order for a bingo permit to be issued.

“That’s basically for us to verify the workers and operators” of any group sponsoring bingo, she told WND. “Indiana code says that a worker or an operator of your bingo game must be a member in good standing of the organization for at least one year.”

Freeman said the regulation was not new: “It’s been that way always.”

When asked if there were penalties for not handing over membership lists, Freeman became apprehensive. “Are you using this information for – what purpose?” After being told the newssite was conducting background for a story, Freeman cut off the interview.

“I’m thinking you’ll probably need to talk to someone in our public relations” department, she said.

Larry McKee, a spokesman with the department’s public relations division, told WND that obtaining a membership roster was a “routine” part of issuing groups bingo permits. He also said the department could fine a group for refusing to provide such a list.

When asked why the state didn’t just deny the permit instead of issuing a fine, McKee was ambiguous.

At one point he said he knew of no “requirement to fine an organization” that didn’t meet all state requirements for a bingo permit. At another point in the conversation, he told WND that the department has a right to fine a group.

When asked what would happen if a group or group leader simply refused to pay the fine, McKee said if a fine were issued and not paid, the state would “issue a lien against the property” held by the group.

He denied, however, that anyone could be incarcerated.

“This is a civil fine, not a criminal penalty,” he said. “If a fine is issued, it’d just stay out there. If it came to a lien, if the property is ever sold it’d have to be paid at that time.”

“If the [Department of Revenue] agent spoke of incarceration, that was a misstatement,” he said. “Perhaps that issue can be examined during the [pending] hearing.”

Bultman said in years past, when he started bingo for a local Knights of Columbus chapter, “we didn’t have to submit the membership information.”

“Having said this and knowing ignorance is no excuse, it would have been appropriate if I had been notified of the changes while being investigated and allowed the opportunity to withdraw the application,” he said.