Illegal Gambling Machine Bust In Philly Nets $270,000

This has been a busy week for law enforcement officials. They have been hard at work conducting raids of different places where illegal gambling was taking place.

The latest bust came on Thursday afternoon when two men were arrested. One, Ned T. Katuran, was from Philadelphia, and the other Ira Katuran, was from Elkins Park.

Ned Kataran was alleged to be the mastermind behind the illegal gambling machine operation. He bought the gaming machines off of Craig's List from a company that has gone out of business since the sale of the machines.

He took two of the machines and sold them to Ira who placed them in his New Valley Tavern in Plymouth Township. The authorities who conducted the arrests confiscated the machines as well as $270,000 from Ned Katuran's home.

The machines are not illegal under state law in Pennsylvania, however, if they pay out customers they become illegal. This was the problem in the Kataran situation.

Both of the men arrested were charged with racketeering for paying out customers that won on the machines and for operating the machines in bars in the county.

August 16, 2008
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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