Prosecutors seek bank accounts, more from huge Bibb County gambling bust

On the heels of Bibb County’s largest-ever commercial gambling raid, Bibb County prosecutors are trying to seize property and dozens of store bank accounts under the state’s racketeering law.

The Bibb County District Attorney’s Office filed a civil complaint seeking the forfeiture of funds from 77 bank accounts, nine vehicles and other property related to alleged violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Superior Court Judge Verda Colvin granted a motion from prosecutors seeking to appoint a court-appointed attorney to manage the assets and property -- and to manage the stores while the civil case is pending.

Colvin also ordered that all the assets be frozen and that all the businesses’ records be protected from destruction or alteration, according to the order.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit and the District Attorney’s Office helped the GBI serve 11 search warrants Wednesday, in cooperation with the Georgia Lottery Corp., according to a news release.

The warrants were executed at:

Reliance Food Mart, 3609 Pio Nono Ave.;

LuLu’s Lottery Store, 3253 Mercer University Drive;

Reliance Food Mart, 3590 Napier Ave.;

Food Mart, 4381 Mercer University Drive;

Quick Serve, 584 Emery Highway;

Sunoco, 2440 Shurling Drive;

Bateman & Wade Grocery, 2283 Clayton St.;

Shell, 1585 Forest Hill Road;

Quick Serve, 2260 Shurling Drive; and

A residence in the 400 block of Southern Oaks Drive.

Four people, all from Macon, were arrested Wednesday and charged with various crimes.

Hardeep Kaur, 67, was charged with one count of commercial gambling.

Harpreet Kaur, 40, was charged with one count of violation of the Georgia Rico Act, three counts of commercial gambling and one count of records and reports of certain currency transactions.

Krunal Patel, 38, was charged with one count of violation of the Georgia Rico Act, four counts of commercial gambling and one count of records and reports of certain currency transactions.

Vinod J. Patel, 46, was charged with one count of commercial gambling.

All four were taken to the Bibb County jail on warrants obtained by the GBI. Krunal Patel, Harpreet Kaur and Hardeep Kaur were arrested at the Southern Oaks Drive residence. Vinod Patel was arrested at Bateman & Wade Grocery at 2283 Clayton St. in Macon.

There are outstanding arrest warrants for Shuken Patel, 29, and Navpreet Kaur, 38.

The businesses, which have licenses to operate coin-operated amusement machines, are accused of giving customers cash payouts when the customers received win credits. Credits can only be redeemed for lottery tickets or store merchandise.

The civil complaint alleges that the four worked together to place gambling machines at legitimate businesses as a front for illegal gambling. The four also are accused of submitting false state tax returns that included underreported tax income.

Evidence presented to the judge indicated that hundreds of thousands of dollars could be involved, District Attorney David Cooke said. The multiagency investigation spanned several months.

Georgia’s RICO act is patterned after a similar federal law. It’s often used to try to prove that a legal business was being used for illegal means.

In the early years of the law, it was used to prosecute those involved in drug trafficking or organized crime. More recently, though, prosecutors have also applied it to government officials accused of using their offices for personal gain.

Writer Phillip Ramati contributed to this report.

This story was originally published November 5, 2014 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Prosecutors seek bank accounts, more from huge Bibb County gambling bust ."