IRS Investigates Former Pace-O-Matic Executive, Seizes Cash

For several years, the legality of skill games, devices that offer a form of entertainment similar to slots but requiring skill, has been a hot topic in Pennsylvania. On one side, Pace-O-Matic, a leading developer of skill games, argued that such devices can help small businesses, while on the other, there’s no active regulation about such machines.

Now, a new investigation into a former Pace-O-Matic director resulted in the seizure of assets by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). More than $400,000 in cash and accounts belonging to Rick Goodling, the former executive, who used to hold the role of a national director of compliance for the skill games developer, were seized by the IRS.

A notice from the watchdog reveals that some $152,862 in cash was seized from Goodling. Moreover, $194,413 from a PNC Bank account, $81,871 from a PESCU Credit Union Account and $13,906 from a Bogowe Consulting account were also frozen due to the investigation by the IRS.

Besides a former Pace-O-Matic executive, Goodling used to be a police officer for nearly 30 years before retiring from the Pennsylvania State Police back in 2019. During the same year, he testified at a House Gaming Committee revealing that a team of former members of state police at Pace-O-Matic helped “weed out illegal gaming machines” across the state. This designated team reported illegal gambling devices to law enforcement while encouraging such businesses to replace them with skill games.

Pace-O-Matic Will Continue to Cooperate with the IRS

Mike Barley, the chief of public relations for Pace-O-Matic, who was cited by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, confirmed that Goodling left the company more than a month ago. This happened after the skill games developer learned about the IRS investigation, he added. “We have and will continue to cooperate fully with the IRS investigation and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement regarding this issue,” explained Barley.

Last year, a major win was secured for businesses offering skill games. At the time, the Commonwealth Court in Pennsylvania reaffirmed a lower court’s decision that recognized winnings from skill games as legal. This otherwise confirmed that skill games are not illegal gambling machines, meaning that they cannot be seized by law enforcement.

More recently, Barley criticized the efforts of gambling operators against skill games. “They continue to attack small restaurant and bar owners and fraternal groups for wanting the opportunity to have a few skill games that provide much-needed supplemental revenue,” he outlined recently.

Sen. Gene Yaw called for the regulation and taxation of those machines. He estimated that the legalization and establishment of taxes for those devices may raise some $300 million for the first year.