Indian national pleads guilty to $9.36 million illegal gambling scheme in Missouri
Sunilkumar N Patel, a 53-year-old Indian-American, admitted in federal court to running a multi-million-dollar illegal gambling operation across six Missouri venues.
In a Missouri federal courtroom, Sunilkumar N Patel, 53, pleaded guilty to participating in a gambling conspiracy that produced about USD 9,362,114 in gross proceeds. The operation masqueraded as internet amusement arcades, skill-game venues and adult arcades, but actually ran chance-based contests and slot-machine style devices at six locations, including four in Springfield and two in Joplin and Branson West. Patel and eight co-defendants were indicted on a 72-count superseding indictment covering wire fraud, illegal gambling and money-laundering offenses.
He now faces up to 20 years in prison for each conspiracy charge and up to five years for money-laundering conspiracies, with sentencing to follow a pre-sentence investigation. Federal, state and local agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigations, assisted the prosecution led by Assistant US Attorney Casey Clark.
Why it matters
The case highlights how illegal gambling networks can exploit legitimate-looking businesses and generate large illicit profits.
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