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Bosworth Raffle-Scam Update: Ticketholders Number Uncertain, DoD Rules Firm

I continue to track down leads on the Bosworth Raffle-scam, in which U.S. Senate candidate Annette Bosworth and her husband Chad Haber appear to have sold raffle tickets for land in Moody County and recreational equipment over a year ago, never awarded the advertised prizes, and never refunded ticketholders. The Secretary of State's raffle request website lists eight raffle requests from Bosworth-Haber non-profit Preventive Health Strategies from October 2011 to June 2012; as far as public records indicate, PHS has held a drawing for only one raffle.

Raffle ticketholder Nathan Fluit of Sioux Falls says PHS staff told him last February that PHS had sold around 250 tickets in the Moody County land raffle. However, I have heard from two sources that the actual number of tickets sold was closer to 30. Whatever the number, the fact that tickets were sold conflicts with the story told by PHS raffle partner FIRE Missions of Michigan, whose director Jennifer Warren told me in July that no tickets had been sold.

A substory to the Bosworth-Haber raffles is their bumbling violation of military regulations. In a crass attempt to glom onto patriotic sentiment, Bosworth and Haber advertised their land and Harley raffles as fundraisers to help active duty soldiers reconnect with their families by sending them on fishing trips to Alaska. But in their rush to wrap their fundraising scheme in the flag, Bosworth and Haber didn't think to check with the military first. Had they looked before they leaped, they'd have been informed of Air Force Instruction 34-223, which governs private organizations supporting active duty service members. It forbids raffles like Bosworth's:

10.15.2. POs may not conduct games of chance, lotteries, raffles, or other gambling-type activities except as provided in paragraph 10.16 Unofficial activities/organizations may not conduct games of chance, lotteries, raffles, or other gambling-type activities under any circumstances [AFI 34-223, updated 2010.11.30].

Paragraph 10.16 allows organizations consisting mostly of DoD members and their families to conduct raffles. Preventive Health Strategies is most certainly not composed of military folks. And even those excepted organizations can't do the kind of raffle Bosworth was promoting:

10.16.2.2. Raffle requests to raise funds for purely social, recreational, or entertainment purposes which benefit only individual PO members and/or their family members, such as to underwrite the cost of a weekend ski trip, a sight-seeing tour, or a shopping excursion will not be approved [AFI 34-223].

This violation of Department of Defense regulations is just one more example of the Bosworth-Habers' rattle-scatter approach to business: throw a couple memes together, do whatever sounds cool, don't bother checking the rules, tell ever more dramatic stories, and hope no one catches you.

Unfortunately, this time, we've caught their raffle scam. And whether it's 250 or 30, the folks on whose money Bosworth and Haber have been living are not going to remain quiet.

25 Comments

  1. Jenny 2013.11.14

    Cory, why aren't you in journalism? This is excellent reporting and investigating! You are the first person I go to for So. Dak news.

  2. Lynn G. 2013.11.14

    It looks like someone involved should at least contact their local county states attorney or the SD states attorney to see what can be done.

  3. bret clanton 2013.11.14

    I agree completely Jenny. Although if he had to answer to an editor it wouldn't be the same......

  4. Robert Klein 2013.11.14

    Corey, Is this what you mean?

    "Preventive Health Strategies is most certainly composed of military folks."

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.11.14

    Oops! Thanks for the edit, Robert! I have changed the above text to clarify that PHS is most certainly not comprised of military people.

  6. joseph g thompson 2013.11.14

    Cory,
    What the Bosworths did is or should be illegal. However the cited Air Force Instruction has nothing to do with what she did. Air Force Instruction 34-323 implements Department of Defense Instruction1000.15 and establishes guidance and procedures for establishing and operating POs(private organizations) on Air Force Installations. Not my words, comes straight from AFI 34-323. She did not attempt to establish any organization on an Air Force Installation.

  7. joseph g thompson 2013.11.14

    Sorry bout that, hit wrong button. The reference you use to the AFI is also outdated, the current one is reviewed and certified on 4 Apr 2011.

  8. joseph g thompson 2013.11.14

    AFI34-223 my bad.

  9. Roger Cornelius 2013.11.14

    I'm curious as why more lottery ticket holders are not coming forward and maybe filing a class action lawsuit against Bosworth/Haber.

  10. Jerry 2013.11.14

    Mr. Roger, could be that the ticket holders are embarrassed to be associated with the scam. This man held his fire for some time before he complained, so many others may be just too embarrassed to be seen as gullible in this scam.

  11. Mark 2013.11.14

    If I faced this situation, I'd be in touch with the SD Secretary of State, SD AG Jackley, the US Attorney's office, Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, in addition to the media.

  12. Rorschach 2013.11.14

    The ball is in Mr. Fluit's court. We can't file a complaint for him. If he wants help from the authorities he has to ask for it himself.

    The media is a different matter. I certainly hope the press contacts him and investigates the matter, but I haven't seen any evidence of it.

  13. Rick 2013.11.14

    R., the evidence is setting in the SoS office waiting for someone to act. Contact from Mr. Fluit is not critical to starting an investigation.

  14. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.11.14

    Joseph, do you have any idea what regulation(s) would have prompted the DoD to order Bosworth to cease and desist?

  15. grudznick 2013.11.14

    Well, KDLT news is all over this story and will be interviewing people on the 10pm news. Looks like the mainstream media is going to uproot the truth now.

  16. Jim 2013.11.14

    Mr Grudz, will you still be seeking a breakfast date with good doctor?

  17. grudznick 2013.11.14

    I will, Mr. Jim. I am. She has not emailed back yet but I expect the conversation to now be even more scintillating.

  18. Mark 2013.11.14

    Jim - Mr. Grudz will have to buy a raffle ticket for such an opportunity.

  19. joseph g thompson 2013.11.14

    Cory, I have not been following her campaign cause I think she is laughable and is totally unelectable. Where did you get the information that DOD or the Air Force told her to stop? Who gave you the reference AFI 34-223? Give me something other than somebody said and I will see what I can find out.

  20. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.11.14

    PHS announced the cease-and-desist order in a February 2013 letter to ticketholders, explaining why they were no longer raising money for a fishing trip for 114th Fighter Wing members and families. I grabbed AFI 34-223 myself, after Googling raffles, military, fundraising, active duty, etc. The latter part of the reg I cited appears to prohibit even unofficial organizations, those not with the official PO/on-base status. But I gladly defer to my military advisors (e.g., you!) on updated and relevant DoD rules.

  21. grudznick 2013.11.15

    KDLT had interviews with people tonight. They are all over this story.

  22. Rorschach 2013.11.15

    Yeah, KDLT has a story entitled "Bosworth Responds to Land Raffle". The title is misleading because nobody named Bosworth responded to anything, and the only response was her campaign manager Nate Johnson saying it's not the campaign - it's an issue for Preventative Health Strategies. So there was no response of any substance whatsoever, let alone any response from "Bosworth". The silence on this one is deafening.

    I suspect that Mr. Fluit will soon discover a $1,000 check in his mailbox signed by someone other than Dr. Bosworth with no cover letter. They will hope this goes away quietly without any public response from the alleged perpetrators of the raffle scam.

    KDLT needs to stay on this like a dog with a bone. Where are the other "news" stations and the Argus? Ridiculous lack of news coverage for a highly newsworthy story. A US Senate candidate involved with a scam raffle with money taken and not refunded and it's not newsworthy? Really!?!

  23. grudznick 2013.11.15

    Well, Mr. Rorschach, the real media like newspapers and KDLT are not the only ones that engage in goofy headlines or what I like to call French Math, but at least KDLT is shining lights to the masses about the heinous things this young Dr. Bos might have done. We should not chastise them any more than we might chastise Mr. H for his elaborately misleading "headlines." We should keep our focus on the important things, like the people of SD and how Mr. Rhoden would serve them best.

    Wait. Did that sound like how Dr. Bos would end her payment return letter?

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