Massachusetts couple found guilty for running underground casinos
A duo from Braintree, Massachusetts, both pled guilty in Suffolk Superior Court over charges relating to unlicensed basement casinos in the area’s Chinatown and Quincy.
The two people, husband and wife, Xue Tan Zheng, 50, and Xiu Rong Li, 55, admitted to the crimes, netting them fifteen felonies apiece. This includes the transporting and trafficking of 12,000 unstamped cigarettes, along with the registering of bets and possession of unlicensed gaming machines.
The fifteen felonies break down like this:
- Two counts of possession of an unlicensed gaming device
- Two counts of registering bets
- Two counts of tax evasion and filing false tax returns
- Two counts of transporting 12,000 unstamped cigarettes
- Three counts of money laundering
- Three counts of trafficking more than 12,000 cigarettes
According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, Li and Zheng ran the two underground casinos from 2022. These provided tables, devices, slot machines, and cash payouts without any regulation. The unstamped cigarettes were then sold within the establishments.
Massachusetts seized over $6 million in cigarettes from underground casinos pairLaw enforcement raided the different locations back in September 2024. This is where they had a large seizure, as outside of the “more than 12,000” mentioned in the guilty plea, they secured “600,000 packs of unstamped cigarettes” at different residences and businesses. According to the press release, this tallies over $6,000,000. The husband and wife duo would sell the cigarettes without tax, which breaks tax mandates set by the Commissioner of Revenue.
Another 22 slot machines were also seized, along with $141,000. Of course, the tax office will get its due, as law enforcement found that they didn’t file their taxes properly in 2022 and 2023. Previous reports put that figure at around $1.2 million of income that wasn’t taxed.
The pair were originally indicted in April, after the Tobacco Task Force uncovered the underground casinos during an investigation. Zheng will serve three years in state prison.
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