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New details in IRCSO busts of two ‘illegal gambling houses’

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New details in IRCSO busts of two ‘illegal gambling houses’

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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY − Indian River County Sheriff’s officials this week shut down two “illegal gambling houses,” seizing dozens of machines and making two arrests, according to officials and recently-released court records.

Jing Guo Yang and Jinquan Lin, both 35 and of the 6500 block of 35th Place in Vero Beach, each were arrested on a racketeering charge. They were held Friday in the Indian River County Jail, each on $1 million bond.

It’s unclear from court records whether the men are being represented by an attorney.

Sheriff’s officials on five occasions between December 2023 and September 2024 reported using either an undercover investigator or an informant in investigating what they said were “illegal gambling houses” at locations in Vero Beach in the 1000 block of 27th Avenue Southwest and in the 700 block of U.S. 1, court records show. Investigators determined both properties were owned by XG Ben Enterprise LLC, which is owned by Lin, records state.

Yang reportedly owned the entities listed on Florida Power & Light Co. bills for both locations, linked to the properties, according to court records.

“Those two arcades were connected … the two suspects owned and operate the both of them,” said Sgt. Kevin Jaworski, sheriff’s spokesperson.

Sheriff’s officials submitted videos taken of machines in both alleged arcades to Florida gaming experts who concluded they were in violation of Florida law because they were not being operated in licensed slot machine facilities in Broward or Miami-Dade counties. The Florida Gaming Control Commission assisted the sheriff’s office by inspecting the machines and determining if they were legal or illegal.

Jaworski said 68 illegal gambling machines, personal and enterprise bank accounts, $37,719 on-site cash, and the two properties were shut down and seized by the sheriff’s office Wednesday morning.

“We at the sheriff’s office boarded up the door. We put new locks on them. We actually seized the properties that they sit on,” Jaworski said.

Jaworski said the location in the 700 block of U.S. 1 was open when sheriff’s deputies got there. One patron inside was briefly detained and then released after she was identified, he said.

“She was released with with no charges,” Jaworski said. “It technically is a crime. It’s a misdemeanor for illegal gambling, right? But we chose not to charge her that day, so she was released on scene.”

Jaworski said the location in the 1000 block of 27th Avenue Southwest was closed when deputies arrived, though Yang was there. While deputies were raiding the two locations, Jaworski said detectives were following Lin and he was taken into custody at a traffic stop. He said Lin and Yang were the two primary suspects.

According to records, Lin also owns two Oniku Hibachi restaurants located in the 4800 block of North Kings Highway in Fort Pierce and in the 4100 block of Ninth Street Southwest in Vero Beach. Investigators found through the restaurants, Lin was writing checks to XG Ben Enterprise LLC and sending “clean money” to fund “the illegal enterprise that owns the illegal gambling properties,” records show.

The criminal probe is continuing.

“The investigation is still going to go forward with the financial aspect of it, and then we still have a number of legal processes that we’re going through in order to get financial data from various different bank accounts, different banks, and then detectives will sort through that data,” he said.

Jaworski said the 68 machines were determined to be illegal, noting they are not regulated.

“If you go down to one of the actual casinos, Hard Rock Casino, or one of these legitimate businesses, they’re regulated by the state of Florida, they’re regulated by the Gaming Commission,” he said. “These are not. The owners can set them to whatever probability that they want, and so you have a lower win ratio that’s not set forth by the state.”

He said unsuspecting players might think they have a chance to win, but “they’re going to lose money no matter.”

“We’re not going to allow these things to operate and victimize our citizens,” Jaworski said. “And I think this kind of should be a wake up call.”

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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.

Olivia Franklin is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Olivia on X @Livvvvv_5 or reach her by phone at 317-627-8048. E-mail her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com.

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