A White Bear Lake youth hockey team is suing a gambling director who resigned

The board of the White Bear Lake Area Hockey Association is suing a former gambling executive, alleging that he secretly tried to bring about the organization’s financial ruin by starting his own business and taking customers and revenue with him.

Christine Olson is accused of breaching her fiduciary duty by trying to lure bars and restaurants with standing contracts with the association to conduct gambling operations and transfer their business to Minnesota Gambling Consultants, a company she founded last fall.

The board of the lawsuit, filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court, also alleges that Olson kept or destroyed property belonging to the association, including emails, and that financial records are being ignored.

“It’s information that shouldn’t be missing,” said Janel Dressen, an attorney representing the hockey association. “There is no shortage of money. This is not embezzlement. There are red flags about what happened.”

Olson resigned on March 28 after 12 years with the association. He declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday.

According to the suit:

Olson worked as a salaried employee of the non-profit hockey association, overseeing charitable activities including sales of pull-tabs, electronic pull-tabs, paddle tickets and raffles. The funds collected will cover the expenses of the association that serves around 800 children.

Charity games make up a large part of the association’s fundraising. The 2021 audit found that gambling generated over $31.9 million in revenue, $4.6 million in net income and $871,362 in profit. In 2022, under Olson’s leadership, total gambling winnings fell to $680,387 despite the increase in revenue.

Problems started to arise in May 2022, when the government approved the opening of the bingo hall. Olson, who was paid $129,000 last year, said along with the added responsibility, he needed a raise, but nothing was approved at the time.

The board did not know that Olson started his own company in October, but continued to work for the association. Board members became suspicious in January when Olson was ordered to solicit bids for electrical work at Jimmy’s Event Center, where a bingo hall was slated to open. The three offers Olson received ranged from $40,000 to $50,000, but board members believed they came from friends of her or her husband.

Board members were looking for new contractors, and bids for the same job came in at $14,000. Olson, who owns the association’s only gaming license, accused the association of breaking the rules.

“It seems to be a flashpoint,” Dressen said.

Olson was told her husband shouldn’t do construction work at the bingo hall, but he did anyway.

Despite Olson’s troubling behavior, the board in January approved an increase in his salary to $140,000 in order to “develop a relationship with him and move past the adversarial relationship that had developed,” according to the suit.

On the day Olson resigned, he allegedly deleted all emails he had sent or received. He also told the board members that the association’s financial documents and confidential information had been left in storage lockers, but no papers were found.

Olson also allegedly told association employees in an “emergency meeting” that he had recruited four of the association’s partner restaurants and bars to follow him. Before he resigned, Olson asked Bear Town Bar and Grill to stop working with the association and work with him instead.

According to the lawsuit, Olson asked the owner, “Do you want to be the only bar that stays in the WBLAHA [White Bear Lake Area Hockey Association]?”

Dressen, the association’s lawyer, said the board felt it had to take legal action after realizing the seriousness of the situation.

“The WBLAHA has suffered and will continue to suffer substantial financial harm as a result of Olson’s unlawful conduct,” the lawsuit states. “As a result of the loss of WBLAHA partner restaurants and bars and WBLAHA employees, not only will sales be significantly lower, but WBLAHA has also suffered reputational damage due to Olson’s demeaning, embarrassing and illegal conduct.”

The association’s partnerships with Doc’s Sports Bar, Bear Town Bar and Grill, White Bear Bar and Jimmy’s have been reinstated, the board said on Facebook Tuesday.

Dressen said the board hopes to come to an agreement quickly and protect the association for the young people who play in it.

Olson has 21 days to respond to the complaint.