DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb is reportedly investigating the details of Washington, DC’s controversial lottery and sports betting contract with long-term supplier, Intralot.
According to anonymous sources behind an Axios DC report, Schwalb’s office initiated a probe into Intralot’s sports betting deal sometime in the summer of 2023. The contract allegedly under scrutiny gave Intralot—a Greek company—exclusive rights to offer retail and online sports betting in DC for five years. Whether Schwalb’s investigation targets Intralot, one of its suppliers, or both is unclear.
Bonus attempted to confirm the investigation and other details with the AG. Schwalb’s office declined to comment.
Scrutiny Follows DC Council Bribery Accusations
The AG’s rumored investigation comes amid questions surrounding several DC business contracts, including allegations that a district councilor accepted contract-related bribes.
In that case, authorities have accused Ward 8 representative Trayon White Sr. of trading his political influence for a $156,000 kickback. White, a Democrat re-elected to the DC council earlier this month, has pled not guilty—reportedly rejecting a plea deal—ahead of his 2026 trial.
In a potentially related case, city contractor Allieu Kamara recently pled guilty to fraud and bribing city officials over millions of dollars in contracts. On Nov 1, the council cut his company, District Services Management (DSM), an Intralot subcontractor, from the lottery contract and revoked its certification.
Now, Intralot’s five-year, $215 million 2019 deal to power DC’s GambetDC sports betting platform is allegedly also under legal scrutiny. The 2019 deal extended a relationship with DC’s Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) that was first cemented in 2010 when Intralot won DC lottery rights.
Relationship Troubles Surface
In DC, the Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) program forces outside companies with substantial government contracts to subcontract some work to local providers, like DSM.
Another such company is Veterans Services Corporation (VSC), which also operates as Vital Services Contractors. Maryland resident and businessman Emmanuel Bailey runs the DC-based, CBE-approved company. As Bonus previously reported, there’s controversy around how VSC initially became Intralot’s partner. But, at this point, any allegations are unsubstantiated.
Intralot first partnered with VSC in 2010, though the relationship seemed rooted in necessity rather than desire—and VSC certainly wasn’t its first choice.
Fast-forward to 2021, midway through the sports deal. Nearly universally derided by users and officials alike, GambetDC was missing revenue targets by significant margins. At one point, Intralot’s US CEO Byron Boothe blamed VSC for GambetDC’s shortfalls.
However, Intralot’s deputy CEO, Nikos Nikolakopoulos, soon retracted that blame. A week later, Intralot announced that Nikolakopoulos would be the company’s new US-facing leader.
DC Courts Competition, Extends Lotto Deal
In response to GambetDC’s failure, the DC lottery and Intralot opted to subcontract FanDuel to supply DC’s sports betting platform instead. In the first seven days following its April launch, FanDuel accepted $6 million in bets, more than Gambet typically handled in a month.
Months later, in June, the DC Council voted to open its online sports betting market to competition. In addition to FanDuel, players can now legally bet online and district-wide with BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and Fanatics.
On the retail side, Caesars signed an exclusive deal to provide self-serve kiosks to replace GambetDC’s retail options. This week, Caesars opened kiosks in 48 DC businesses, including gas stations and convenience stores.
Meanwhile, overlooking Intralot’s lackluster sports betting results, the DC Council agreed to a $39 million lottery-only contract extension over the summer. Notably, according to documents obtained by Axios, VSC—still an Intralot subcontractor—will receive $19.8 million of the contract’s additional price tag.
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