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HPD officers among 22 suspects arrested in major illegal gambling bust in Chinatown, DA says Local. By: Ciara R., Alex Green. Posted: Mar 28, 2018 / 09:10 AM CDT / Updated: Mar 28, 2018 / 07:02 PM. The Harris County District Attorney and the Houston Police Department announced Wednesday that two police officers were among the 22 people arrested in an illegal gambling operation in Chinatown. MZ: Was it the rise of gambling and prostitution in Chinatown that started the criminalization of these Tongs? There was also opium, so you had drugs as well. You needed the underworld, because you’re talking about activities that were illegal. The translation of Tong is basically a meeting hall. A Tong is a form of a Benevolent Association. Last week, the federal government of the United States claimed a six-story New York City Chinatown building valued at about $17 million in a case related to illegal gambling. New York's Chinatown came into being in the 1870s, as the Chinese population rose from approximately 150 in 1859 to more than 2,000 in the 1870s, according to Peter Kwong, author of 'The New.
Last week, the federal government of the United States claimed a six-story New York City Chinatown building valued at about $17 million in a case related to illegal gambling.
The building’s owner — Won & Har Realty Corporation — had to forfeit the property after it was determined that it was aware of the illegal gambling going on and didn’t take any action to stop the operation. In other words, it wasn’t an “innocent owner,” as it tried to claim.
Won & Har will forfeit the building to the United States. The feds will sell the building, retain 65 percent of the proceeds of the sale after accounting for the costs of selling it, and then return the remainder of the proceeds to Won & Har Realty.
According to public documents filed in Manhattan federal court:
“For at least the two years prior to the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint in May 2012, the Building consistently hosted a group of illegal gambling operators offering various gambling options, including pai gow poker and computer-based slot machine games. For nearly a year after a search conducted by law enforcement in 2011, which resulted in the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling proceeds, illegal gambling continued to be conducted openly in the building, within full view of any passersby in the building’s public hallways. In addition, a large sign advertising gambling was displayed on the front of the building.”
In May of 2012, 11 individuals were arrested in the raid.
The case was handled by the office of Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bharara was also the man behind the Black Friday indictments against the major offshore online poker sites and is generally not well-liked by the poker community.
Illegal Gambling Chinatown Nyc Subway
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May 23, 2012 3:06 pmIllegal Gambling Chinatown Nyc Restaurants
On Tuesday, an alleged gambling ring was busted at a six-story building in New York’s Chinatown after two years of illegal operations.
The police sting was named “Operation Snake Eyes,” in reference to a bad luck thrown in gambling parley, and resulted in NYPD and federal officials swooping on the building at 35-37 East Broadway and making eleven arrests. In addition to $163,000 in cash being found, gambling tables and other evidence were confiscated, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official James T. Hayes Jr, explaining:
“This type of sophisticated operation, where you have a building where at least four floors were dedicated to different types of gambling-type dens, that’s not something that we see a lot of.”
Furthermore, federal authorities believe the building was also being used for trademark counterfeiting, prostitution, and as an illegal medical center. Consequently, a civil forfeiture is now being sought for the building, which was the subject of another raid only last year. On that occasion only the 6th floor was targeted resulting in $210,000 being confiscated by NYPD.
Apparently, the illegal East Broadway den provided profits for Asian organized crime gangs, who then set up an alternate venue at nearby 93 Henry St. in order to cope with excess demand. This building, too, was raided at the same time, with ICE official James T. Hayes Jr, stating:
“We saw that the premises and the casino operation was protected by armed gang members. And so for us, that’s a tremendous concern, especially in such an area that sees such heavy pedestrian traffic.”
Addressing the wider issue, former NYPD officer Joseph Chan said that gambling is a feature of big Asian communities, where immigrants with limited language skills often sink their earnings into games. Chan also said that police raids and arrests were rarely a deterrent for gamblers, commenting:
“Once they take everything out, within six, seven or eight hours there’s a carpenter down there, two-by-fours, bang bang bang, they’re setting up new tables already. And the gambling would be on the next day.”