A multi-year investigation culminated in a sting that took down a large illegal gambling and money laundering operation along Florida’s southeast coast, with multiple arrests confirmed by authorities. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office dubbed the operation “Fools Treasure,” targeting numerous businesses masquerading as legitimate operations while running illegal gambling houses. According to officials, these establishments offered Las Vegas-style slot machine games, despite Florida laws prohibiting such devices outside of regulated spaces like pari-mutuels and tribal gaming facilities as reported by NBC Miami.
The investigation, involving multiple state and local law enforcement agencies, was initiated in 2022 by the sheriff’s office Money Laundering Unit in the Narcotics Division, which identified businesses in West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, and Zephyrhills linked to the illegal operations and additionally, two businesses based in Miami were implicated as suppliers for the illegal slot machines. Nine search warrants and five arrest warrants were issued during the course of this investigation, according to court records that showed large sums of money being shuffled through business and personal bank accounts to launder the proceeds from this illegal gambling network totaling over $763,000 between October 20, 2022, through October 19, 2023.
Ritesh Patel, 33, and Nova Revez Roffey, 41, were among those nabbed in Palm Beach County on a buffet of charges including conspiracy money laundering, keeping a gambling house, conducting an unlawful lottery, and unlawful possession of slot machine devices, which were listed in the court documents. Furthermore, Eric David Silverstein and Justin Earl Silverstein were arrested in Miami-Dade as the alleged proprietors of the companies providing these illegal slot machines, with statements from officials hinting that more arrests were forthcoming in this far-reaching crackdown…