12 Arrests Follow 4-Month Bookmaking Investigation

A dozen people have been arrested on suspicion of participating in a $20-million-a-year bookmaking ring operating out of the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, Los Angeles police and sheriff’s officials said.

Although the sports-betting ring’s estimated annual cash intake was described as “mid-level” for Los Angeles County, Deputy Police Chief Mark A. Kroeker said Monday its use of a sophisticated array of high-tech equipment such as facsimile and telephone-answering machines was unprecedented.

Kroeker said that the ring’s top leaders have eluded arrest and that a joint investigation by police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department would continue.

“We’re not convinced we have Mr. Big here, but we are convinced we’ve made a big entry into this organization,” Kroeker said. He was joined at a press conference by Sheriff’s Lt. David Kading, and Los Angeles Police Lt. Faryl Fletcher and Sgt. Bill Martin.

The arrests Sunday came after a four-month investigation and the searches of nine homes. During the searches, investigators seized $7,800 in cash; answering machines, tape recorders and a long sheet of slick facsimile paper that Kroeker said showed a list of wagers, payments and debts.

The ring was harder than usual to crack because its business was conducted almost exclusively in Thai, authorities said. A Thai-speaking sheriff’s deputy worked on the investigation, and a civilian volunteer helped during Sunday’s searches and arrests, the law enforcement authorities said.

In the pyramid-like betting operation, clients placed their bets with low-level workers, who would, in turn, phone or fax the wagers to higher-ranking bookmakers operating out of their homes, police said. The bets would be placed on sports ranging from football to horse racing.

Police also seized at one San Fernando Valley home a small black book listing jewelry, homes and luxury cars that Kroeker and Martin said appeared to have been purchased with the betting operation’s illegal proceeds. They said state and federal tax investigators had been contacted because of the apparent unreported income.

All 12 people were arrested on suspicion of felony bookmaking, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in state prison and a fine of $5,000 for those with previous convictions. All 12 posted bail and were released, police said.