Judge Upholds Suspension of Church’s Bingo Operations

A Compton Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the city of Carson could immediately suspend the bingo operations of a Carson Samoan church.

The action came when Judge Richard P. Kalustian denied an attempt by the United Samoan Congregational Christian Church of the South Bay Area to stay a 30-day suspension of its bingo license until an appeal could be heard by the City Council.

The suspension was imposed by Finance Director Lorraine Oten after a city investigation of charges that the church was paying its bingo workers in violation of a city ordinance and state law, which prohibit the paying of bingo workers.

In a letter to church officials last week, Oten notified the church that its license had been suspended effective Wednesday, the day the court ruled. However, the bingo games can resume after a 14-day period if church officials agree to a number of conditions involving how bingo proceeds are handled.

The city wants the church to maintain a separate bank account for its bingo operations and not make any payments from that account to its general fund account.

Church President Maligi Nua has acknowledged that bingo workers are paid a $25 stipend for each night worked, but that the money comes from the church’s general fund, not proceeds from the bingo games. Bingo revenue accounts for up to 60% of the church budget, he said.

In an interview Wednesday, Nua maintained that, even if there has been wrongdoing, the charges do not warrant a suspension of the bingo games.

“It’s not a blatant violation,” Nua said. “We didn’t lie about it. We didn’t hide anything. The only thing that I’m disputing is whether there has been due process.”

The United Samoan Congregational Christian Church is among the largest of more than a dozen Samoan churches in Carson and is believed to have the city’s longest-running and most popular bingo operation, bringing in about $1 million annually.

City officials were unsure Wednesday when the council would hear the church’s appeal.

But at Tuesday’s council meeting, Nua lashed out at Myron Thompson, the former church official who caused a stir in the tightly knit Samoan community when he came forward with the bingo allegations.

“We don’t like the way Thompson is claiming himself as a spokesman for the Samoan community,” Nua said. Thompson was ousted as a church secretary in a bitter power struggle in 1989, when other church officials took issue with his management practices.