Latest news with #gamblingring
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Illegal gambling in Macomb County broken up, leading to four arrests, 10 machine seizures
The Brief Four people were charged and several gambling machines were seized following two days of executed search warrants around Macomb County. Thousands of dollars and multiple vehicles were also seized on Aug. 11 and 12 last week. Each defendant is facing counts of operating a gambling ring, which is a 10-year felony count. (FOX 2) - The Macomb County Sheriff's Office made several arrests and seized even more assets during a two-day sequence of search warrant executions across the county. The work helped bust illegal gambling that was operating across multiple locations. Big picture view Four Macomb County residents were charged with running an illegal gambling operation after being taken into custody last week. Search warrants were executed by the Macomb County Sheriff's Office at several homes across five different locations on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12. Residences in Sterling Heights, Clinton Township, Macomb Township, and Washington Township were among the locations. In addition to the arrests, property, vehicles, and thousands of dollars in cash were seized during the operation, which was overseen by the Sheriff's Enforcement Team. Illegal gambling busted Dig deeper On Monday, Aug. 11, the sheriff's team executed search warrants at the Floral Cafe in Macomb Township and homes in Sterling Heights and Clinton Township. Mirela Deda, 53, and Alban Hulaj, 33, were taken into custody while five gambling machines, a vehicle, and more than $5,000 was seized. On Tuesday, Aug. 12, more search warrants were performed, one at the Kelmendi Cafe in Macomb Township and a home in Washington Township. Alban PReka, 43, and Trifon Mone, 57, were among those arrested. Another five gambling machines were seized, along with more than $12,000 in U.S. currency, and two more vehicles. What's next All four defendants were charged with one count of gambling operations and conspiracy to commit gambling. Deda, Preka, and Mone are also facing a high misdemeanor charge of maintaining a gambling house. Additionally, Preka and Mone were charged with one-year misdemeanors of permitting a gambling apparatus. They were all given a $10,000 personal bond. Probable cause conferences and preliminary hearings are next for each of the four defendants. The Source A press release from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office was cited for this story.
Telegraph
12-08-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Gold bars and designer handbags up for auction after £1.7bn laundering gang jailed
A haul of gold bars, Hermes handbags, designer watches and jade necklaces seized in Singapore's biggest money laundering case is to be sold at auction. Ten members of a Chinese crime syndicate that had set up a remote gambling ring in the Philippines involving goods worth £1.7 billion were arrested in simultaneous raids across Singapore in August 2023. Two of the suspects jumped off the second-floor balcony of a house trying to flee arrest. The team of 400 officers impounded a fleet of high-end cars and seized 152 properties in expensive neighbourhoods. In total, around £577,435,000 of assets belonging to the gang were seized. The nine men, and one woman, all from Fujian province on the east coast of China, were sentenced in June last year to between 13 months and 17 months imprisonment for money laundering and related offences. Police announced on Tuesday that 466 items, including 50 branded handbags from Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dior and Chanel, 58 gold bars, and 14 designer watches were to be handed over to the international consulting company Deloitte. Deloitte is intending to sell the items over auction and the proceeds, along with the forfeited cash, will go into Singapore's consolidated fund, the equivalent of a bank account held by the government, police said. Each gold bar weighs 1kg and is worth approximately £80,000. The gang's operation began to fall apart after its ringleader Su Jianfeng, a 36-year-old Vanuatu national, aroused suspicions from his bank about the source of his income when he deposited huge sums of money into his accounts. Jianfeng and his wife, Chen Qiuyan, had built a sprawling empire of companies and a fortune estimated at £107,000,000. A fraud investigation revealed that Jianfeng had submitted false documents to his bank to try and verify his income. Investigators uncovered how Su Jianfeng was involved in an unlawful remote gambling business overseas, in which he ran and promoted gambling websites. He was arrested in the raids with his co-conspirators and charged with four counts of money laundering offences, eight counts of fraudulently using a forged document, one count of employing a foreigner without a valid work pass and one count of abetment of making a false declaration in an application for a work pass. In a search of his home, police found £320,000 in cash locked in a safe. He was sentenced to 17 months imprisonment. Many of the gang members had multiple passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu, Cyprus and Dominica. All the gang members were deported from Singapore. Su Haijin, a Cypriot national, was even photographed at dinners with Singaporean ministers and a ruling party lawmaker. Two former bankers from Citibank and Swiss private bank, Julius Baer, were accused of helping the gang members illegally apply for loans with forged documents. A further 17 suspects are wanted in connection with the case and are on the run. David Chew, director of the commercial affairs department, the police investigating arm for white collar crime, said: 'To protect Singapore's financial system, the police will spare no effort to detect abuse, arrest the criminals and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains. In Singapore, these criminals will not find safe harbour for themselves or their wealth.'
