Feds charge foreign nationals
The US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri (USAO-WDMO) has announced the indictment of nine Indian nationals suspected of involvement in a $9.5m gambling ring in the Northwest.
illegal gambling conspiracy
India’s Economic Times reported on Monday that those arrested were originally from Gujarat, a state along India’s west coast. The USAO-WDMO took to X Friday with news it had indicted the suspects on an illegal gambling conspiracy:
The DOJ stated that the nine face “multiple charges in 72-count indictment” covering six locations in southwest Missouri. The suspects are accused of running a state-wide illegal gambling network worth several millions of dollars “under the façade of legitimate arcade businesses.”
Illegal game over
The cracking open of the alleged illegal Missouri gambling network was a case under the Take Back America initiative targeting, among other things, transnational crime syndicates.
The alleged Missouri gang of nine reside across the US in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, New York, and Washington. The feds unsealed the indictment in July following multiple arrests, with the suspects expected in court on July 23 and 24.
All nine suspects face charges including operating illegal gambling businesses, committing wire fraud, and laundering money.
marketed “as internet amusement or skill game arcades”
The accused allegedly ran their illegal enterprise through businesses named Big Win Arcade, Spin Hitters, and Vegas City Arcade, which the masterminds behind the operation marketed “as internet amusement or skill game arcades.”
The indictment alleges that the crimes, committed from July 2022 to May 2025, involved the suspects shifting the funds from their illegal gambling locations in Missouri to multiple US states to market their illegal enterprise.
According to the DOJ news release, the suspects hid the money they made via the illegal gambling channel by depositing the funds in various personal bank accounts in both the US and India. In this way, the feds say, the defendants illegally generated over $9.5m in US currency which they proceeded to launder in just over three years.
Local probe goes national
According to the ET, the DOJ considers this case “one of the most significant arcade-related fraud investigations” under the feds’ Take Back America drive.
The arcade-game-fronted illegal network operated out of the Missouri cities of Joplin, Branson West, and Springfield. The Springfield police chief, Paul Williams, said the case started as a local investigation before expanding into “a large, multi-jurisdictional case resulting in numerous indictments.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge of the case Stephen Cyrus stated in the release that the charges “reflect the dedication of law enforcement […] to hold those who violate the law accountable.”
