BUNCHA WISEGUYS.
A New Jersey city councilor and members of the high -ranking Lucchese crime family are among dozens who were triggered in a huge knocked gaming ring that would be short of restaurants through the Garden state, officials announced on Friday.
Prospect Park’s city councilor, Anand Shah, 42, is said to have managed illegal poker games and directed an online sports book linked to four members of the Mob family, the New Jersey Attorney General, Matthew Platkin, allegedly alleged a press conference in Newark on Friday morning.
“I am very aware of the public’s perception of elected officials in New Jersey and the lack of confidence that so many people have in their officials and government institutions,” said Platkin. “The arrest of a member of the municipal council only makes fuel to this fire.”
Shah was one of the 37 people arrested and 39 people charged in the radical game case that was part of a two -year investigation that discovered illegal operations in Woodland Park, Garfield and Totowa who brought in $ 3 million in illegal profits, said AG.
At the top of the racket was George Zappola, 65, from Red Bank, who is part of Lucchese’s power committee, said officials.
Below him was the captain of Lucchese Joseph “Big Joe” Perna, 56, from Belleville, and below him, the soldiers of Lucchese John Perna, 47, from Little Falls, and Wayne Cross, 75, of Spring Lake, said the authorities.
Wednesday, the cops made a descent into four illegal poker clubs linked to the Lucchese family, two of which left behind the restaurants. They also searched a company in Paterson which stored game machines and the houses of seven people who would have managed the game operation.
The RAID has led officials to discover more poker clubs and dozens of people who have hosted poker games, worked in clubs or managed bettors on an illegal online sports book on sites outside the United States, said Platkin.
“It was a very structured and very profitable criminal business led by people who thought they were above the law,” said Theresa Hilton, director of the Criminal Justice Division.
There were high -level managers who delegated operations daily to managers, decided how clubs were managed, settled disputes and used threats to recover debts, said AG.
Lower level managers have collected contributions – called “rents” – poker games, said Platkin.
The hosts – or the “house” – had to recruit their own players, provide food and drinks to the games and put them financially. For this, the hosts collected a percentage of bets for themselves, called a “rake”, said the GA.
The hosts paid dealers or players were authorized to resolve unpaid debts by acting as a dealership, said AG.
Participants could bet on game machines inside the clubs if they were waiting to enter a poker game, said Platkin.
As for the online game, the “agents” run sportsbooks for the game sites abroad and would manage a group of bettors – or “packages”, said the GA.
And the agents and sub-agents had to send part of their profits to high-level management, said Platkin.
The websites have enabled gangsters to use the Internet and technology to carry out the same criminal activities as Cosa Nostra had been doing the old -fashioned way since the 19th century, Platkin said.
Shah is accused of racketeering, a conspiracy to promote the game and money laundering and other charges for which he could incur up to 20 years in prison if he was convicted of the charge.
He is not accused of having used his office to carry out the alleged crimes and is not accused of being a member of the mafia – but rather a partner, according to officials.
He must be excited Tuesday before the court of the county of Morris, where the prosecutors will plead so that he is kept in prison while his business takes place.
Shah did not immediately return a request for comments by e-mail. Lawyers from Zappola, Cross and John Perna did not immediately return any comments. We did not immediately know who represented Joe Perna.
https://nypost.com/2025/04/11/us-news/nj-policchese-mobsters-arttet-in-gambling-ring/
