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From Sacbee...
An FBI agent enters L&L Thai Hmong Video on Stockton Boulevard in south Sacramento during a raid Wednesday. Authorities said illegal lottery tickets were sold at the store. Wagers were collected at eight other small businesses in the Sacramento area and one in Fresno, a federal affidavit states.
Suspected leaders of an alleged gambling ring that raked in upward of $48 million were arrested Wednesday during raids on Sacramento businesses and homes.
Federal, state and local law enforcement officials say the operation was based on the state lottery and run out of markets and video stores.
The operation had been going for "at least five years," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office.
Officials said their investigation will continue and more arrests are possible.
Alleged ringleaders Prasert Somsinsawasdi, 59, and his 46-year-old wife, Noy, collected an estimated $800,000 a month in bets made on the numbers pulled from the state lottery's Daily 3 drawings, according to a federal affidavit filed earlier this week. Wagers were collected at eight businesses in Sacramento, one in West Sacramento and one in Fresno, the affidavit states.
Authorities said the Somsinsawasdis recruited Asian American business owners to help run the illegal lottery. Bettors placed their wagers in the stores and received their numbers handwritten on carbon paper, said Karen Twomey Ernst, an FBI special agent.
The couple and four other people were arrested Wednesday morning in raids at area businesses and homes. More than 100 law enforcement officers from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, state Department of Justice and Sacramento Police Department conducted the sting at seven video stores and three markets, authorities said.
The store owners were paid 10 percent of bets taken at their business, and the Somsinsawasdis collected the rest, the affidavit shows.
Individual bets usually ranged from $5 to about $100, and winners were paid out of the Somsinsawasdis' share, authorities said. Tickets that had all three numbers from the Daily 3 paid out at 800 to 1, the affidavit stated.
Agents sifting through garbage outside the Somsinsawasdis' south Sacramento home earlier this year found "illegal lottery tally sheets," the affidavit states. The sheets recorded "a conservative estimate of $100,000 of bets" received during a three- to five-day period, and authorities believe the couple collected about $800,000 a month, the affidavit states.
Authorities learned of the alleged ring from an informant who was arrested in 2004 for trafficking in the drug Ecstasy, according to the affidavit. The informant told agents "illegal lotteries are rampant in the Sacramento area," and during a 15-month period, he bought phony lottery tickets at six area stores.
Bettors stood to make significant money.
"There is a payoff. I have heard of some people getting $3,000," said Aree Rith, 36, as he stood outside South Area Market on the 5000 block of Fruitridge Road, one of the shops raided Wednesday morning.
Inside the store, officers interrogated several men as agents held the door closed, telling approaching customers the store was not open for business. One man being questioned occasionally glanced at a sheet of paper he held as officers spoke to him.
"I have coffee here almost every day," Rith said, adding that he did not participate in the alleged lottery.
"They (customers) spend $10, $15 for pieces of yellow paper with numbers written on them," Rith said.
Basharat Mahmood, a travel agent for American Travel and Tours, which is several stores away from the market, said he had seen nothing unusual from the market's customers.
"They are good neighbors. I have never seen any problems," Mahmood said.
The alleged operation had no connection to the state lottery, and none of the suspected businesses was a licensed lottery retailer, Ernst said.
"The bottom line is that millions of dollars have been diverted from the California state lottery as a result of this illegal lottery," Ernst said.
Thirty-four percent of state lottery proceeds help fund public education, said Rob McAndrews, a lottery spokesman.
Investigation of the suspected illegal gambling operation, which also involved sports betting, lasted more than a year, according to the affidavit.
Also arrested Wednesday were 32-year-old Chao Lee, whose home was allegedly used to collect illegal lottery tickets and sports bets; Soukuane Saelee, 48, who owns Lee's Market on the 3000 block of Marysville Boulevard, where illegal lottery tickets allegedly were sold; Mouang Saelee, 44, who allegedly sold tickets to an undercover agent at Lee's Market; and La Soukasene, 41, who allegedly sold tickets to an undercover agent at South Area Market on Fruitridge Road.
In addition to Lee's Market and South Area Market, business where authorities said illegal lottery tickets were sold include "Air Video" on the 500 block of Eleanor Avenue; CD Video on the 5800 block of Franklin Boulevard; "JR Thai Video" on the 5800 block of Stockton Boulevard; "Keo Video" on the 1000 block of West Capitol Avenue; "L&L Thai Hmong Video" on the 6400 block of Stockton Boulevard; "TB Video" on the 6600 block of Stockton Boulevard; "TCC Video" on the 2900 block of Marysville Boulevard; and the "Fresno Express Market" in Fresno.
Spreading the news...
From Sacbee...
An FBI agent enters L&L Thai Hmong Video on Stockton Boulevard in south Sacramento during a raid Wednesday. Authorities said illegal lottery tickets were sold at the store. Wagers were collected at eight other small businesses in the Sacramento area and one in Fresno, a federal affidavit states.
Suspected leaders of an alleged gambling ring that raked in upward of $48 million were arrested Wednesday during raids on Sacramento businesses and homes.
Federal, state and local law enforcement officials say the operation was based on the state lottery and run out of markets and video stores.
The operation had been going for "at least five years," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office.
Officials said their investigation will continue and more arrests are possible.
Alleged ringleaders Prasert Somsinsawasdi, 59, and his 46-year-old wife, Noy, collected an estimated $800,000 a month in bets made on the numbers pulled from the state lottery's Daily 3 drawings, according to a federal affidavit filed earlier this week. Wagers were collected at eight businesses in Sacramento, one in West Sacramento and one in Fresno, the affidavit states.
Authorities said the Somsinsawasdis recruited Asian American business owners to help run the illegal lottery. Bettors placed their wagers in the stores and received their numbers handwritten on carbon paper, said Karen Twomey Ernst, an FBI special agent.
The couple and four other people were arrested Wednesday morning in raids at area businesses and homes. More than 100 law enforcement officers from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, state Department of Justice and Sacramento Police Department conducted the sting at seven video stores and three markets, authorities said.
The store owners were paid 10 percent of bets taken at their business, and the Somsinsawasdis collected the rest, the affidavit shows.
Individual bets usually ranged from $5 to about $100, and winners were paid out of the Somsinsawasdis' share, authorities said. Tickets that had all three numbers from the Daily 3 paid out at 800 to 1, the affidavit stated.
Agents sifting through garbage outside the Somsinsawasdis' south Sacramento home earlier this year found "illegal lottery tally sheets," the affidavit states. The sheets recorded "a conservative estimate of $100,000 of bets" received during a three- to five-day period, and authorities believe the couple collected about $800,000 a month, the affidavit states.
Authorities learned of the alleged ring from an informant who was arrested in 2004 for trafficking in the drug Ecstasy, according to the affidavit. The informant told agents "illegal lotteries are rampant in the Sacramento area," and during a 15-month period, he bought phony lottery tickets at six area stores.
Bettors stood to make significant money.
"There is a payoff. I have heard of some people getting $3,000," said Aree Rith, 36, as he stood outside South Area Market on the 5000 block of Fruitridge Road, one of the shops raided Wednesday morning.
Inside the store, officers interrogated several men as agents held the door closed, telling approaching customers the store was not open for business. One man being questioned occasionally glanced at a sheet of paper he held as officers spoke to him.
"I have coffee here almost every day," Rith said, adding that he did not participate in the alleged lottery.
"They (customers) spend $10, $15 for pieces of yellow paper with numbers written on them," Rith said.
Basharat Mahmood, a travel agent for American Travel and Tours, which is several stores away from the market, said he had seen nothing unusual from the market's customers.
"They are good neighbors. I have never seen any problems," Mahmood said.
The alleged operation had no connection to the state lottery, and none of the suspected businesses was a licensed lottery retailer, Ernst said.
"The bottom line is that millions of dollars have been diverted from the California state lottery as a result of this illegal lottery," Ernst said.
Thirty-four percent of state lottery proceeds help fund public education, said Rob McAndrews, a lottery spokesman.
Investigation of the suspected illegal gambling operation, which also involved sports betting, lasted more than a year, according to the affidavit.
Also arrested Wednesday were 32-year-old Chao Lee, whose home was allegedly used to collect illegal lottery tickets and sports bets; Soukuane Saelee, 48, who owns Lee's Market on the 3000 block of Marysville Boulevard, where illegal lottery tickets allegedly were sold; Mouang Saelee, 44, who allegedly sold tickets to an undercover agent at Lee's Market; and La Soukasene, 41, who allegedly sold tickets to an undercover agent at South Area Market on Fruitridge Road.
In addition to Lee's Market and South Area Market, business where authorities said illegal lottery tickets were sold include "Air Video" on the 500 block of Eleanor Avenue; CD Video on the 5800 block of Franklin Boulevard; "JR Thai Video" on the 5800 block of Stockton Boulevard; "Keo Video" on the 1000 block of West Capitol Avenue; "L&L Thai Hmong Video" on the 6400 block of Stockton Boulevard; "TB Video" on the 6600 block of Stockton Boulevard; "TCC Video" on the 2900 block of Marysville Boulevard; and the "Fresno Express Market" in Fresno.
