A B.C. man has been given a conditional discharge in Vancouver Provincial Court after pleading guilty to keeping a gaming or betting house.
Judge Donna Senniw said the operation in a house on Vancouver’s 200-block of West 45th Avenue was not connected to organized crime, loansharking or money laundering.
However, Wen Bo Li of Burnaby was one of those apprehended when police arrived at the house after receiving a call from someone claiming to being held at gunpoint in October 2020.
Police found no evidence of guns when they arrived but did find a sophisticated and expensive gambling operation where the preferred game seemed to be baccarat.
Li was caught coming out of the house and found to have $11,000 on him.
Neighbours had described seeing people coming and going and expensive cars arriving.
"Mr. Li was not the operating mind, was paid minimum wage and worked long hours,” Senniw said.
She said he appeared remorseful for his actions.
Among items seized in the joint investigation were $220,775; poker chips, tables and playing cards; score sheets with client names and cash balance sheets; cellphones; and a money counter.
The conditional discharge has conditions for 12 months: Li is not to be in any gaming facility and cannot have any gaming paraphernalia.
He must do 40 hours of community service in the first nine months, Senniw said.
B.C. gaming houses
Peter German’s 2018 report into money laundering in Lower Mainland casinos notes criminal enforcement of gaming laws by police reaches back a century to the opium dens and illegal gaming houses.
“Although the legal complexion of gaming has changed a great deal over the past century, police enforcement has tended to remain complaint-driven and focused on illegal houses,” German said.
His report noted such houses have been associated with loansharking.
From 2005 to 2008, 284 gaming incidents were reported; 183 involved illegal common gaming houses, he noted.
“Twenty-five reports involved common gaming houses operated by organized crime figures or frequented by gang members,” German’s report said. “Two were the scenes of murder or attempted murder. Children were abducted from one gaming house to force the payment of a debt.”
