Ormond Beach, FL - An Ormond Beach Internet cafe was raided and shut down by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office and state investigators on Tuesday morning after officials say it was operating as an illegal gambling operation.
Investigators, along with Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, raided the Hot Spot Internet Cafe at 1230 Hand Ave. in Ormond Beach. It had been under investigation since June after complaints about the operation. Undercover detectives were even awarded cash for playing the games. The Sheriff's Office believes the business has made more than $600,000 in two months and that the money was being funneled into a furniture company in North Carolina.
The walls of the business had receipts of winnings showing what the patrons stood to win, according to Andrew Gant, Public Information Officer for the Sheriff's Office. "When you walk in there, you basically see rows of computers that could have all sorts of games on them, a variety of games that look like slot machines, look like Bingo. Basically it looks like a mini-casino," says Gant. "What the Sheriff says is, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck, it's a duck, in this case, a gambling house."
Gant said that Tuesday, the internet cafe was filled with people who were going in there to play the games. "They're innocent, they're just going in there to have a good time, and they don't know. They think it's legal, but behind the scenes, what they may not know is that none of the stuff is regulated or licensed, and it's really operating in a gray area outside the law, and our position is, we're not just going to stand by and watch it happen."
The owner of the business was not present at the time of the raid, but his son was, and the son was interviewed by officials. So far, there have been no arrests made and no criminal charges filed, but the Sheriff's Office is hoping to get federal law enforcement involved. There could be charges under state worker's comp violations, according to the Sheriff's Office, and it's possible there could be misdemeanors coming out of the case as well.
Deputies will be issuing cease and desist orders for other Internet cafes in the area, telling them to shut down their operation. If they do not shut down, law enforcement will shut them down instead.
Photo courtesy of David Franklin and shutterstock.com
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