D.A. Blasts Plans for ‘Mega-Card Rooms’ in San Diego

Responding to two proposals to establish large, casino-type gambling rooms in the county, Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller released a report Friday that strongly condemns “mega-card rooms” because they are havens for organized crime.

However, Miller acknowledged that an investigation by his Special Operations Division uncovered no evidence that organized criminal activity has gained a foothold at the small card rooms in San Diego County.

Miller’s report is the latest salvo in a series of attacks against a plan that goes before the City Council on Monday to allow the 12 card rooms in the city to consolidate into a single Mission Valley facility that would not be regulated by local authorities.

The report, similar to one issued by the city Thursday, also urges National City voters to reject a casino proposal that will be considered in November.

Citing the only two giant card rooms in the state--the California Commerce Club in Commerce and the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens--the report says crime associated with big card clubs greatly outweighs the revenues provided to local governments.

“In our view, these monetary rewards have come at the expense of public safety and have opened the doors of these cities to organized crime, as well as prostitution, loan sharking, money laundering, extortion and robbery,” Miller said.

Large-scale gaming operations are often infiltrated by organized crime, as in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J., Miller said.

The 19-page report cites two major concerns with the proposals to open huge card rooms in San Diego County--money laundering and problems related to Asian card games.

“Literally hundreds of thousands of dollars each day are presently being laundered through legal card room-casinos in California,” Miller said. “Given the manner in which these casinos are operated there is little which can be done to control that problem.

“A large card room-casino in San Diego County would inevitably become the site of wholesale money laundering.”

Miller said there was no evidence that organized crime is involved in the highly regulated card-room industry in San Diego County. But, he said, “If history is any indication, the same thing is going to happen in San Diego.”

Another concern is highly profitable, high-stakes Asian games, notably Pai Gow. Miller said $100,000 games are not unusual and provide opportunities to hide huge sums of illicit money and to target people who have success at the gaming tables.

“The law enforcement problems posed by the specter of organized crime are compounded by the introduction of high-volume Asian gambling games,” Miller said.

The county’s top prosecutor also said the project might encourage follow-home robberies. The report notes that the first four months of the year brought 16 crimes in which patrons of the Bicycle and Commerce clubs were robbed after winning card games. The losses in the robberies totaled more than $160,000.

“What are we left with then?” Miller asked. “A proposal that is attractive solely because it dangles a carrot before a fiscally hungry local government, but a proposal that would also strain local resources, attract criminals and debase the quality of life.”