A man pleaded guilty in federal court Sept. 3 for his role in a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling ring in the Ozarks, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Missouri.
Sunilkumar N. Patel, 53, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering. Patel is an Indian national who lives in New York.
In the plea, Patel admitted that he and his co-conspirators made more than $9.3 million in proceeds from the wire fraud scheme and illegal gambling business, and then "conducted various financial transactions for the purpose of laundering the proceeds," the release
said.
There were four locations in Springfield that Patel and his co-conspirators operated: Big Win Arcade No. 1 at 1928 S. Glenstone Ave., Big Win Arcade No. 2 at 1135 E. Commercial St., Spin Hitters at 838-840 S. Glenstone Ave., and Vegas Arcade at 615 S. Scenic Ave. The businesses were registered under the guise of adult arcades and included illegal chance games and slot machines. They also operated a location in Branson West and one in Joplin.
The nine defendants are Rahulkumar Patel, Manishkumar Patel, Mitulkumar Barot, Sunilkumar Patel, Tushar Patel, Azghar Ali, Harshadkumar Chaudhari, Vipul Patel and Mohammed Iphtekar Ali Ajgar. Sunilkumar Patel was charged, along with the other defendants, in a 72-count superseding indictment by a federal grand jury in Springfield.
All nine defendants face one count each of participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, and operating illegal gambling businesses from July 1, 2022, to May 13, 2025. In addition to the conspiracy counts, all nine defendants were charged with at least one count of wire fraud, and eight defendants were charged with money laundering.
Under federal statutes, Patel is facing a sentence of up to 20 years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud; up to 20 years for wire fraud; up to 5 years for conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business; up to 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering and up to 20 years for money laundering, all without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Another man pleads guilty to role in illegal Ozarks gambling ring
