Owner of shut-down gambling arcade in Palm Beach Gardens asks city to return seized $142K

PALM BEACH GARDENS – The owner of a now-closed gambling arcade is attempting to take back money that Palm Beach Gardens police seized in a raid of the storefront in 2022.

Golden Nugget Arcade once stood in a shopping plaza on Military Trail north of Northlake Boulevard before Palm Beach Gardens police shut it down in September 2022. They deemed it an illegal gambling house and money-laundering enterprise after a yearlong investigation.

During the raid, police confiscated $142,029 of illegal funds kept on site.

As is protocol, the city filed in June 2023 to keep the money through civil forfeiture — a legal process that allows police to keep property linked to crimes — but Golden Nugget’s owner Cynthia Patel asked the court to order the city to return it. Her attorney, Jacksonville-based Kelly B. Mathis, did not return calls seeking comment.

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City Attorney R. Max Lohman said Patel’s argument asserts that the money rightfully belongs to the business, which generated it. A hearing on the matter is set to come before Circuit Judge Luis Delgado on Aug. 23.

“While it is cash, it is contraband cash,” Lohman said. “It is proceeds from an illegal operation.”

‘Gold mine’ arcade in Palm Beach Gardens housed more than 50 gambling devices

Palm Beach Gardens police began investigating the Golden Nugget in November 2021. An employee told two undercover police officers during their first visit there that the business was “a gold mine” and that some customers cashed out as much as $12,000, according to a police report.

The report also noted that the storefront held more than 50 gaming machines similar to those seen in large casinos.

A slew of illegal gambling operation shutdowns across Florida took place in the wake of the Palm Beach Gardens investigation, and the city later banned adult arcades — also called internet cafés — and “simulated gambling devices.” What differentiates adult arcades and internet cafés from more legitimate gaming establishments is the use of cash and gift cards as prizes, officials have said.

The state in July 2022 outlawed slot machines except at 15 casinos mainly in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. This followed a gaming compact between the Legislature and the Seminole Tribe of Florida in May 2021, which gave the tribe near-exclusive rights to gambling.

The Golden Nugget’s former owner, Ralph Deluca of Hollywood, and its manager, Nicholas Fiore of Boynton Beach, were both arrested when police shut the arcade down. Both pleaded guilty to money laundering, keeping a gambling house, working for a gambling house and unlawful manufacture, sale or possession of coin-operated devices.

Deluca was sentenced to 14 days time served and Fiore to eight. They were also each ordered to pay court fees of about $900, records show.

These two, however, are not asking to get the seized funds back. The business’ current owner, Patel, is.

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Palm Beach Gardens city attorney calls arcade’s claim ‘highly suspect’

Patel, who is based in Dayton, Ohio, bought Golden Nugget Gaming PBG LLC from a third-party about six months before the August 2022 police raid on the arcade, according to Lohman.

He called the claim “highly suspect” because Patel has no contract demonstrating she owns the business and an “absurdity” because the operation has already been linked to criminal activity. He likened the situation to that of an uncovered drug crime.

“If you make money selling cocaine, you don’t get the cocaine or the money back,” he said. “In this case, the money is in fact the cocaine. The money wasn’t just the instrumentality of the crime. It is the crime.”

If Palm Beach Gardens wins the case, the seized funds in the amount of $142,029 will be added to the city’s general fund.

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Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Owner of closed Palm Beach Gardens arcade asks police to return $142K