Goods impounded for Richard Lee of the WSOP
There have been reports in the San Antonio press that
local police searched a home owned by Richard Lee, winner of
nearly $3 million this year at the World Series of Poker,
for evidence of an extensive illegal Internet gambling
operation.
"This operation is the largest here in San Antonio,"
the publication quotes local police spokesman Joe Rios, who
confirmed the search warrant was served on a Shavano Park
home in the 100 block of Geddington Street. According to
Bexar County Appraisal District tax records, the home
belongs to a Richard Lee, who TV reports and a police source
said is the same Richard Lee who was a finalist at the World
Series of Poker just recently. Lee placed sixth in the main
event for the WSOP for $2,803,851, and was said to be the
target of a long-running investigation into what the
newspaper termed an "extensive illegal Internet gambling
operation."
"Our vice detectives have been conducting a
comprehensive investigation where they believe proceeds from
illegal gambling have bought a lot of items in this house,"
Joe Rios told WOAI, a San Antonio Television Station.
"Anytime we have that type of investigation that leads us to
believe there's illegal property in the house we have
authority to seize it. We're taking all the vehicles and all
the property inside the house."
The police had kept an eye on Lee's home for many months
before requesting a search warrant. Inside the home, they
found dozens of receipts for deposits on payouts from
gambling proceeds, Rios said. "We're talking payouts well
over $500,000," he said.
A money-counting machine; five Lexus cars, including two
sports utility vehicles and three sedans; multiple
plasma-screen TVs; and a large amount of cash were seized by
authorities, he said. Now that they have found evidence,
there is enough to move ahead with the investigation.
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