New Search
SUMMARY: <br /> In November 2001, the Department began investigating allegations, made by the original <br /> complainant, that EVB violated Oregon law by suspending the bylaws and transferring all <br /> authority and financial control to the new Track Operator, Scott Snook. The Department opened <br /> an audit that ultimately consisted of three "phases ". <br /> The first phase found that a contract was signed by EVB and Scott Snook giving him <br /> complete control and allowing him to take any excess track funds as his salary. Financial record <br /> analysis revealed that Mr. Snook often co- mingled track funds with his personal business, R & C <br /> Racing; however the records were incomplete, preventing a conclusion that Mr. Snook wrongly <br /> diverted funds from EVB. Although insufficient evidence existed to conclude that Mr. Snook <br /> diverted funds, the Department had serious concerns about record keeping and commingling of <br /> funds by Mr. Snook. However, near the end of the first phase, Mr. Snook resigned from his <br /> position with EVB and the board was reinstituted, effectively resolving the original <br /> complainant's primary complaints. <br /> Phase two of the Department's audit began when the Department suggested that the <br /> board seek legal counsel and review the possibility of filing a claim against Mr. Snook for the <br /> many undocumented personal reimbursements. After a long deliberation the EVB board, a year <br /> and a half later, EVB legal counsel determined that there was enough evidence to file a claim, <br /> but the cost to EVB would be too high. EVB's counsel also stated that they were concerned <br /> about the large difference in parking revenue from when Mr. Snook operated the track to present <br /> figures. To put this issue behind them, the EVB board voted to cease all legal action against Mr. <br /> Snook. <br /> The original complainant brought the difference in parking to the Department's attention, <br /> thus began phase three of the audit. The Department conducted additional interviews of <br /> witnesses, including re- interviewing Mr. Snook. The Department also conducted an inspection <br /> of the track parking lot and completed an exhaustive analysis of parking revenue for the years <br /> 1996 through 2002. Again, sufficient parking records did not exist, to create a history of lot <br /> capacity, charge per vehicle, or total revenue collected for parking. Investigators then attempted <br /> to compare historical information to more recent parking revenue figures. But still to this day, <br /> EVB does not maintain adequate parking records, such as number of cards parked or total <br /> parking revenue per football game, and Department investigators were unable to conclude that <br /> Mr. Snook diverted funds illegally. <br /> As the investigation was winding down, the original complainant insisted that the <br /> Department review EVB's MOTO sheets, which we were told, documented the number of racers <br /> per day. The original complainant believed that those totals, multiplied by race entry fees would <br /> show total racer entry revenue. This could be compared to bank deposits and may show that <br /> minimal parking revenue was deposited by Mr. Snook. After careful review, the MOTO sheets <br /> were determined to be unreliable for determining racer entry revenue, due to undocumented racer <br /> discounts. Consequently, we could not accurately determine the total revenue from race entries. <br /> 1 � r <br /> Final Investigative Report 2 of 7 CAS09342.DOC <br /> h <br />