Florida lt. gov quits; tied to firm under investigation
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll announced her resignation Wednesday, a day after she was questioned by authorities investigating an Internet cafe company that she once represented.
Carroll’s resignation letter to Gov. Rick Scott, dated Tuesday, offered no details about her reason for leaving. But Scott’s chief of staff, Adam Hollingsworth, said she was interviewed by Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers Tuesday regarding her work with Allied Veterans of the World.
She resigned to ensure her ties to the company would not be a distraction for the administration, he said. Carroll had owned a public relations firm that represented that company.
While serving as a state lawmaker, Carroll’s ties to the company were also questioned when she proposed a bill that would benefit Internet cafes.
Carroll’s aides said they had no immediate comment Wednesday.
The owner of Allied Veterans was arrested Tuesday in Oklahoma on charges of racketeering. He is accused of making $290 million after supplying illegal gambling software in Florida and claiming the games’ proceeds would benefit a veterans group. Oklahoma authorities say the group actually received only 1 percent of the money. Chase Egan Burns, 37, and his wife, 38-year-old Kristin Burns, both face extradition to Florida to face the charges. An attorney for Burns did not respond to a request for comment.
Chase Burns owns International Internet Technologies in Anadarko, about 60 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
He and his wife were arrested after an investigation that spanned several years and involved the Internal Revenue Service and various law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma and Florida, including the sheriff’s office in Florida’s Seminole County, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s office.
A telephone number listed for Allied Veterans in St. Augustine has been disconnected. Multiple emails sent by The Associated Press to an address listed on the group’s website weren’t returned Tuesday evening.