Indian-Origin Council Member Involved in Illegal Gambling Scheme

by Lisa Spencer, April 18, 2025

Anand Shah, NJ council member and businessman, was accused of managing illegal poker games and online betting. Investigations reveal Shah is associated with the Lucchese crime family.

Illegal Gambling Ring Exposed in New Jersey

On Friday 11, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin made a statement that Anand Shah, 42, is charged with organizing illegal poker games and managing an online sportsbook together with the Lucchese crime family. After law enforcement executed search warrants at 12 locations, 39 other people have also been investigated for racketeering, money laundering, gambling offenses, and other crimes.

The investigation of the Lucchese family and its illegal gambling activity has been ongoing for the past two years. On April 9, the police searched four poker clubs in Totowa, Garfield, and Woodland Park. Two backroom poker rooms hidden behind functioning restaurants were also searched, together with a gaming machines business in Paterson and seven residences of individuals suspected of managing illegal gambling.

“Criminal enterprises like this pose a serious threat to the safety and well-being of our communities, driving illegal gambling, money laundering, and racketeering operations that value profit over people.”

Patrick Callahan, Colonel of the New Jersey State Police

Additional poker clubs and dozens of individuals who have managed an illegal online sportsbook and poker games were revealed during the investigation. Authorities shared that the enterprise’s upped management received a portion of the criminal proceeds, estimated at over $3 million.

Hidden Poker Clubs and Offshore Sportsbook Operations

Investigations show that social clubs were hosting poker games and were offering gambling machines as well. Each poker club had a high-level manager who delegated day-to-day operations to other managers during the tournaments.

Meanwhile, the illegal online sportsbook operated through several offshore websites. It was managed by “agents”, also known as “bookies”, who created accounts on foreign sports betting websites. With the help of the websites’ owners, criminal enterprises controlled activities in northern New Jersey and other neighboring areas.