Federal authorities raid Bicycle Hotel and Casino in Bell Gardens

Federal authorities execute warrants as part of a criminal investigation at The Bicycle Hotel & Casino in Bell Gardens. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Veronica Rocha , James Queally and Richard Winton Contact Reporters

Federal authorities raided the Bicycle Hotel and Casino in Bell Gardens on Tuesday morning and seized thousands of financial records as part of an ongoing investigation into possible money laundering, according to law enforcement sources.
Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles, declined to comment on “the scope or nature of the investigation,” but said a “search warrant issued by a United States magistrate judge was filed under seal in relation to an ongoing investigation.”

The raid was executed at the casino at 888 Bicycle Casino Drive, by members of the Los Angeles High Intensity Financial Crime Area Task Force, a group that includes ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations; IRS Criminal Investigation; the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control; and the U.S. attorney's office, she said.
Law enforcement sources who were familiar with the investigation but not authorized to speak about it publicly said the probe was focused on whether or not individuals used the gambling club to launder illegally gained cash. The investigation, which is in the relatively early stages, will determine whether gamblers exchanged dirty money for chips, played cards, and then cashed the chips in for clean money, according to the sources.

Among a number of its enforcement responsibilities, ICE investigates cases of suspected bulk cash smuggling. Under the USA Patriot Act, it is illegal to transport more than $10,000 worth of currency into -- or out of — the United States and knowingly evade reporting requirements.

Nate Davalle, assistant bureau chief for the California Department of Justice, said the casino will remain closed until the search is complete, but will likely reopen later Tuesday or Wednesday.

He also said players who have live chips will be able to cash them out once the casino reopens.

For much of the morning Tuesday, federal agents lined the entrance the the casino near Eastern Avenue, blocking access to the structure's main parking lots as area residents, gamblers and casino employees milled across the street asking each other what was happening.

Kenneth Taylor, 53, of Los Angeles, said his sister was on the casino floor around 7:30 a.m. when federal agents entered the game room floor and instructed players to leave their chips on the table and exit the area.

Taylor, a regular Paigow player who said he comes to the Bicycle almost daily and loses “every day," said he always suspected the casino might become the target of an investigation one day.

"Let's put it like this. Gambling is a game of luck. I consider myself a lucky person," he said. "But you can never win at the Bicycle."

Taylor said the federal agents had not evacuated the casino's adjacent hotel.

Near the casino entrance, a man who would only identify himself as a casino employee nervously approached an ICE agent asking when the floor would reopen. He said he was carrying $7,000 in chips and was afraid they no longer contained any value. The agent reassured him that ICE was not "taking over the casino," and said we would be able to cash out at a later date.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m. an armored truck was waved toward the casino doors by ICE agents.

Becky Warren, a spokeswoman for the Bicycle, said the casino is "cooperating with authorities" but declined to comment further.

The Bicycle Casino has had a long and colorful history in Bell Gardens.

The Drug Enforcement Agency and the Internal Revenue Service seized the casino in April 1990 after authorities discovered laundered drug money was used to help finance construction of the Bicycle Club.

A jury found that $12 million of the $22 million used in its construction came from Florida drug smugglers. In 1991, the federal government took over part ownership of the casino.

Five years later, the federal government sold its share of the casino to a large British gambling company.

Known for its 185 tables of poker and other card games, the casino is now privately owned by the Bicycle Hotel & Casino LLC. A seven-story, 99-room hotel opened in December 2015 next to the casino.

On Tuesday, casino regulars traded theories on what prompted authorities to act.

Across the street from the hotel, 49-year-old Tracy Peoples said she was happy to see the raid take place. Like several other gamblers lining the block, she claimed she had always suspected there was something fishy about the way table games operated inside the casino, specifically Paigow.

Asked why she kept playing at The Bicycle if she suspected she was being cheated, Peoples hung her head.

"Because we're gamblers. It's an addiction. You always think you're gonna get your money back," said Peoples, who has been playing at the Bicycle for 24 years. "We know we're being cheated but the addiction is in you. I've lost so much in here I probably built half the hotel."

When a half-dozen men, some wearing casino badges, emerged from the hotel and walked past a crowd of gamblers across the street, they drew jeers and screams of "cheaters."

"I hope they put them all away," Peoples said.

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