Two women, 48-year-old Kelly A. Mallia and 62-year-old Valerie A. Mallia, were taken into custody by the Sarasota Sheriff’s Department on December 16. The arrest took place at the Paradise Arcade at 6030 N. Lockwood Ridge Road, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

The operation took place after a search warrant was executed in collaboration with the Florida Gaming Control Commission. 81 slot machines were found at the arcade, which have now been seized by Commission agents, along with the cash inside them.

Image: Sarasota Sheriff Department

Next steps in the Sarasota investigation

The sheriff’s office also noted that the arcade had been served with a cease-and-desist letter earlier in the year. The women were charged with keeping a gambling house and owning or possessing slot machines. The first charge could result in up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, while the latter could result in 60 days in prison and fines of up to $10,000 per machine. Both women have been bonded out of the Sarasota County Jail.

“The slot machines are now securely stored as the investigation continues,” wrote the Sheriff’s department in the statement. “This operation follows a Cease-and-Desist letter issued earlier this year.

“SCSO and FGCC continue to shut down these illegal gambling establishments. If you have one, it would be a great time to close your business because you could be next!!”

There’s no word yet on when the next legal steps will take place. Such operations are far from uncommon in Florida, with authorities seizing more than 250 slot machines earlier this year and 147 machines just this month. Last month, the Florida Attorney General said publicly that he wants to increase the penalties faced by people involved in Illegal gambling operations.

Featured image: Google Maps

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“Under CEO Margaret Franklin, the CFA Institute has tax-exempt dollars building what is now the largest DEI coalition in the world by assets under management,” said one CFA member who asked not to be named. “Now it appears they are rewriting the rules, but the damage has already been done.”

Obtaining a CFA charter is among the more prestigious private label designations for wealth managers. The institute bills itself as the “gold standard in ethics and transparency in finance.”

Jack Forbes / NY Post Design

It boasts 200,000 professionals working at some of the world’s largest financial companies, managing trillions of dollars of global wealth, so its reach into the financial system is deep.

Critics of Franklin say while she focused on issues like DEI, she has neglected more glaring problems at the institute. They point to criticism by some members that she has centralized control over policymaking, giving members less input (a CFA rep denies the centralization charge).

They also point to the recent indictment of the institute’s former chief marketing officer who was charged with embezzlement of the outfit’s funds — around $5 million to pay for club memberships, travel expenses and an engagement ring, according to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

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The nonprofit – whose grueling test has for decades been a rite of passage for Wall Street’s “chartered financial analysts” – has quietly removed a link on its website to the signatories to its DEI code of conduct, sources said.

The apparent reversal comes after CFA Institute CEO Margaret Franklin pushed through sweeping DEI initiatives in 2023, according to CFA members who spoke to On the Money.

The former executive has denied the charges.

Courts have recently issued rulings casting significant doubt on DEI’s legality. The Trump administration has taken steps to prevent companies from employing so-called intersectional metrics in hiring decisions.

In response, many large companies such as Paramount, Walmart, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, McDonald’s, Amazon, Target, and financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup have begun to rewrite or totally unwind their DEI policies under threat of legal action.

Target is among the the companies that have begun to rewrite or totally unwind their DEI policies under threat of legal action. Christopher Sadowski

“Given recent court decisions and executive orders, CFA Institute is reviewing its content and policies to ensure it meets the new requirements. That is why some of the content is not on our website,” CFA Institute spokesperson Matthew Hickerson told On The Money.

Hickerson said the Institute was not under pressure from the signatories to remove their names amid the legal dispute over DEI, but the organization informed of the move.

The CFA’s strict DEI code appears to have been launched just months before the Supreme Court outlawed using race as a factor in college admissions, casting legal doubt on equity hiring decisions. By signing on to the code of conduct, companies ensured that they would use DEI in job-related decisions including the promotion of wealth managers who manage money for small investors based on their race or sex.

The Supreme Court has outlawed using race as a factor in college admissions, casting legal doubt on equity hiring decisions. REUTERS

“The DEI Code also requires signatories to amplify the impact of their commitment by making the economic, business, and moral case for diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the institute stated in a June 2023 press release announcing the effort.

The institute also provided its interpretation of “equity,” the key metric in DEI that critics say allow for discrimination.

“Equity is distinct from equality… Note that essentially the same support for everyone regardless of the starting point is equality, but that may not provide an equitable solution. Equity offers those who need it targeted support to reach their full potential,” the DEI code states.

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Even though the code was voluntary, the CFA institute asked the that the companies that signed on have the organization review their compliance, a massive undertaking given the numbers and sizes of the companies involved.  

CFA touted in its June 2023 release that more than 100 finance industry organizations across the United States and Canada have signed up for what it called “the industry’s first voluntary Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Code for the Investment Profession in the United States and Canada.” 

They included the likes of CalPERS, the massive California public employee pension fund, Morgan Stanley Asset Management, Oaktree Capital, Nuveen and MFS Investment management.

“Signatory organizations together represent around $11.2 trillion in assets under management — approximately 10 percent of the investment industry’s assets under management globally* — as well as some $9.5 trillion assets under advisement.” the CFA said.

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What appears to be a small bit of fun between coach and players has spiralled out into scandal, as prop bets become a more scrutinized element of sports. Prop bets are a form of gambling that focuses less on wins and losses, but more on actions taken during a game. According to the Inquirer, it was done via “little slips of paper”. No money was made, outside of the $10 exchanged.

Now, the school has updated its code of conduct to include a ban on any form of gambling on campus grounds. The main concern around the prop bet scandal is the encouragement of gambling to students, which some officials believe could lead to gambling addiction.

Rise of prop bets concerning, according to officials

Quoted in the Inquirer, Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at Northeastern University’s Public Health Advocacy Institute, said:

“If someone in a position of respect and authority is introducing kids to an addictive substance and somehow normalizing that or minimizing its significance.

“That person either doesn’t understand the human brain and how addiction works or they’re disregarding their position as a person in authority.”

“Neither would be acceptable to me.”

Sports gambling has become a prevalent issue, with adolescents becoming involved with it sooner, thanks to the rise of gambling apps like the aforementioned DraftKings. Additionally, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is seeking to ban prop bets by lobbying the federal government. It’ll be an uphill battle, as the form of gambling has become immensely powerful over the last few years.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons

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Nebraska-based Dunkin’ stores in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island all had no doughnuts in their cases on Thursday and Friday.

Businesses put up signs on their doors and drive-thru kiosks informing customers that the pastries were unavailable “due to a manufacturing error.”

Dunkin’ customers were stunned when stores didn’t have any donuts. AP

Some locations did offer “Munchkins,” or doughnut holes, on Friday.

Tyler Raikar, of Omaha, stopped by a Dunkin’ in west Omaha early Friday after an overnight shift as a phlebotomist, seeking coffee and a chocolate cake doughnut.

“What? No doughnuts!” she exclaimed when told the location had none. “That’s tragic!”

The trip wasn’t a total loss, she said, as she was more interested in the coffee.

Still, she was a little disappointed that she couldn’t get a doughnut.

“Hopefully they have them soon,” she said.

Employees put up signs on doors and drive-thru kiosks telling customers that pastries were unavailable. AP

Throughout Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the surrounding suburbs, store after store confirmed there’s a doughnut drought.

Some employees chalked it up to a supply chain issue and others said simply that delivery trucks had been arriving without the cargo that the chain is most famous for.

Employees said they hoped stocks would be replenished by next week.

A manager at the west Omaha Dunkin’ location said Friday that she could not give more information on the cause of the shortage, citing orders from Dunkin’s corporate headquarters.

The manager, who did not give her name, said the shortage was a national problem.

But checks of locations in other regions, including St. Joseph, Missouri, and Boston — where Dunkin’ has a near cult-like following — found no shortage of the sweet treats.

A Dunkin’ manager in Omaha said the shortage is a nationwide problem. AP

Dunkin’ is one of the world’s largest coffee and doughnut brands, with more than 13,200 restaurants

The company, which was founded in Massachusetts in 1950, was purchased for $11.3 billion in 2020 by Atlanta private equity firm Inspire Brands, which also owns Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings.

Jack D’Amato, a spokesperson for Inspire Brands, said there was an issue with doughnuts from a single supplier that impacted stores in Nebraska and some other states, although he did not name the other states.

About 4 percent of Dunkin’s U.S. stores were impacted, he said.

Dunkin’ has more than 9,500 stores nationwide.

D’Amato said the company was still looking into what the issue was and exactly how many stores were affected. But he said the company has already begun restocking some affected stores.

The shortage didn’t impact places like Boston – where the company has a major following. AP

Previously known as Dunkin’ Donuts, the company announced in 2018 that it was dropping “Donuts” from its name as part of a rebranding effort to increase focus on its coffee and other drinks, which made up of a majority of its sales.

Phone and email messages to Bryce Bares, who owns several Dunkin’ franchises in Nebraska, were not immediately returned.

Bares told the Omaha World-Herald that some Dunkin’ stores received products from suppliers that were not up to standard and that he would not serve them to customers.

The business owner told the newspaper that the supply partners had corrected the problem and that his Nebraska locations should be offering doughnuts again soon.

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