Gambling Bust Could Cost Senior Center Its Last Home

A senior citizens center that caters to Vietnamese Americans has been evicted from one of its two Westminster buildings and risks losing the second one after charges that center officials allowed members to gamble.

The Asian American Senior Citizens Assn. was forced to leave its Bolsa Avenue facility in Little Saigon on Aug. 31, about two months after 11 members and volunteers were cited by police for gambling.

Prosecutors allege that the association was running a gambling hall where seniors played an ancient Vietnamese card game and took a cut of the profits -- $500 to $1,000 a day. Police raided the center’s facilities on Bolsa Avenue and Hospital Circle on June 22.

The owner of the Bolsa Avenue building, Bridgecreek Realty Investment Corp. of Huntington Beach, cited the gambling charges in its eviction notice.

“This is a commercial shopping center, and with the publicity we just felt we had a civic responsibility,” said Bridgecreek’s property manager, Kathy Buchoz.

The incident has caused controversy in Orange County’s Vietnamese community, with many saying the city overreacted to small wagers among seniors passing the time.

Friends play poker for money and wager on golf courses, said Vu V. Trinh, an attorney representing the center and those charged, yet “nobody’s prosecuting them.”

“It’s sickening. These are octogenarians” playing card games, he said. “They are not running a gambling casino.”

Trinh said the association planned to fight the eviction in court because Bridgecreek’s contention that there was gambling in the center had yet to be proved. Those cited will be arraigned Sept. 26 at the West Justice Center in Westminster. They face up to $500 in fines and a maximum of six months in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor charges.

Meanwhile, the center continues to operate at its other location, 220 Hospital Circle, which was bought with a $200,000 federal grant. The city wants the association to pay back that grant -- and maybe more, Trinh says. City attorneys acknowledge that there have been such negotiations but would not provide details.

Westminster City Councilman Andy Quach said he met with center officials and discussed the possible turnover of the property to the city or a payment of its market value -- which would be considerably more than the $200,000 grant.

Trinh, in court documents, alleges that the city is trying to use the gambling charges to pressure the association to sell the building and enrich city coffers.