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Suspect in gambling bust had mob ties, records say

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Julio Jimenez

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office seized dozens of cars and other property during a gambling bust on Tuesday.

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Christian Richardson | Updated Oct 7, 2011

A central figure in a far-reaching gambling bust Tuesday has a long history of gaming offenses and ties to the mob, according to documents from the Arizona Department of Gaming and Department of Racing.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said “intelligence” gathered during the investigation revealed links to East Coast crime families. However, the gaming and racing departments have extensively documented Ralph S. DiPiero’s mob ties, with records dating back to the 1970s .

DiPiero, 77, of Scottsdale, and his two sons were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, money laundering, promoting gambling and illegal control of an enterprise. They were released on their own recognizance, and they haven’t been charged with any crimes.

Deputy Doug Matteson, sheriff’s spokesman, said investigators were doing followup work Wednesday.

Arpaio’s investigators allege the men run one of several illegal gambling operations they raided Tuesday in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Nevada.

Arpaio said the suspects used extortion and threats of violence in their operations.

A 1995 Gaming Department report alleges DiPiero was a loan shark — offering loans at excessive interest rates — and was associated with the Nicodemo “Nicki” Scarfo crime family in Philadelphia.

DiPiero, who couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday, denied the association in a 1997 Tribune interview, but he suggested he was associated with the Columbo crime family.

The 1995 report alleges DiPiero extended credit to employees and patrons of Fort McDowell Casino and used “threats for non-payment.”

Gambling investigators banned several people accused of loan-sharking from the casino, but by that time DiPiero had quit going to the casino, the report states.

In early 2000, DiPiero was banned from Casino Arizona in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community after gaming officers allegedly spotted him making loans to employees and patrons.

DiPiero told the Tribune then that he did make loans, which was common practice in the poker room, especially during high-stakes games because players didn’t like to carry large amounts of money.

“I am not a loan shark,” Dipiero said then. “I never loan money for interest.”

Four managers and employees of Casino Arizona lost their licenses as result of the 2000 investigation.

Before DiPiero moved to Arizona in the 1980s he had accumulated an extensive arrest record in Philadelphia for forgery, bad checks, indicted in 1973 for failing to file income taxes and banned from a race track there.

DiPiero owned race horses but his racing license was suspended in 1981 in Arizona for seven months. He also was fined $1,000 and placed on probation for five years for falsifying his license application