Reported by Matthew Reilly
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), and the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) today announced that 39 people – including a Prospect Park councilman and members of the Lucchese Crime Family – have been charged with racketeering, gambling offenses, money laundering, and other crimes, after law enforcement executed search warrants at 12 locations throughout North Jersey earlier this week.
Following a two-year investigation into illegal gambling activities tied to the Lucchese Crime Family, searches were conducted on April 9, 2025, on four poker clubs located in Totowa, Garfield, and Woodland Park, including two clubs where backroom poker games were hidden behind functioning restaurants; a business in Paterson storing gambling machines; and seven residences of individuals alleged to be managing the gambling activities.
A Prospect Park council member and local business owner – Anand Shah, 42, of Prospect Park, New Jersey – was identified as allegedly managing illegal poker games and an online sportsbook in association with the Lucchese Crime Family. The investigation uncovered additional poker clubs, the involvement of dozens of individuals alleged to have hosted poker games and worked at the poker clubs, and managed bettors on an illegal online sportsbook.
The upper management of the gambling enterprise allegedly oversaw the gambling activities and received a portion of the criminal proceeds. The investigation resulted in the identification of more than $3 million in suspected criminal proceeds. Members of the criminal enterprise used multiple shell corporations and functioning businesses to conceal their illegal gambling proceeds.
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