Quincy Man Admits to Running Illegal Gambling Business in Boston’s Chinatown, Using Violence to Collect Debts

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BOSTON—As part of an ongoinginvestigation into extortion and illegal gaming in Boston’s Chinatown, a Quincyman pleaded guilty late Friday to running an illegal gambling business. Theinvestigation included a court-authorized wiretap on the defendant’s phone anda series of consensual video-recordings made inside gambling dens.
Minh Cam Luong, a/k/a “Ming Jai,” 48,pleaded guilty to an 11-count indictment charging him with running an illegalgambling business and using threats of violence and actual violence to collectdebts from gamblers and others who borrowed money. United States District JudgePatti B. Saris set sentencing for January 14, 2013.
Luong admitted that he managed theillegal gambling business and that numerous people were victims of hisextortionate collections scheme. Luong’s business ran a series of three illegalgambling dens, on Edinboro Street, Harrison Avenue, and Beach Street inChinatown, from early July 2009 through June 2011. The gambling dens offeredhigh-stakes gambling on Chinese table games. The most lucrative game was “paigau,” in which the gamblers play against each other, not against the “house.”The “house” collects a five percent commission on every winning hand, and thewinnings on each hand could range from hundreds to tens of thousands ofdollars.
Luong and his company lent large amountsof money to gamblers and others. When debtors did not pay, Luong and hisassociates threatened to come after them and beat them up. Others, includingthe operators of other Chinatown gambling dens, were beaten up in order tomaintain Luong’s “face” and his ability to collect debts from frighteneddebtors.
During one of the interceptedconversations, Luong told a criminal associate that he had opened his illegalgambling business in Boston rather than in New York, because Boston was “likethe countryside,” but “quite wealthy,” and “these country folks don’t knowanything.” Luong said that his Beach Street gambling den had made $100,000during a three-day period around Chinese New Year 2011 and that normally, thegambling den generated $60,000 or $70,000 per week in profits.
In several other interceptedconversations and voicemail messages, Luong threatened debtors with direconsequences if they did not pay up. Luong told one debtor that the debtor’swhole family would “go to hell” if he did not pay. Luong told the debtor aboutsomeone else whom Luong had beaten up the previous night and warned the debtorthat the same could happen to him. Luong told another debtor that she shouldnot think that her being a woman would prevent Luong from beating her up if shedid not pay.
Luong faces up to 20 years in prison oneach of the 10 extortionate collections counts and up to five years in prisonon the illegal gambling business count. Luong also faces up to three years ofsupervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 per count.
To date, nine of the 10 defendantscharged in the initial indictment have pleaded guilty to illegal gamblingbusiness or extortionate collections conspiracy charges. The case is stillpending against Hin Pau, a/k/a “Ah-Bo,” a/ka/ “Bao,” who was charged, alongwith two additional defendants, in a superseding indictment returned by thegrand jury on August 16, 2012.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz;Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation-Boston Field Division; and William P. Offord, Special Agent inCharge of the Internal Revenue Services-Criminal Investigation in Boston madethe announcement. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. AttorneysRichard L. Hoffman and Timothy E. Moran of the Organized Crime Strike ForceUnit.