104th Precinct arrests two in connection with illegal gambling site in Maspeth
July 20, 2023

Police from the 104th Precinct arrested two men who were allegedly operating an illegal gambling site in Maspeth.

According to police, an unidentified 34-year-old man reported leaving $7,400 on the table inside Pieklo Bakery, located on 60-41 Fresh Pond Road, at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 19, when 69-year-old Victor Tomescu allegedly took the man’s money and refused to give it back.

When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered Tomescu was allegedly running the illegal gambling site and selling alcohol without a license. Additionally, officers found that Tomescu was in possession of card tables and six illegal gambling machines inside the former bakery. He was subsequently arrested and charged with grand larceny, illegal gambling, unlicensed sale and storage of alcohol, promoting gambling and criminal nuisance, according to authorities.

Ion Ghereben, 59, a store employee and alleged co-conspirator, was also arrested on July 19 on related charges. Ghereben, a Ridgewood resident, was charged with six counts of possession of a gambling device, police said.

Years ago it was a Polish Bakery, it was bought by Romanians and supposedly Gypsy people. I work with a lady who lives in that neighborhood, she said the place had gone downhill since new owners took over. She was not aware of the gambling, I'm surprised the police bothered, usually they only go after Italian mafia places or any place tied to Italian mobsters. There is gambling all over New York, the same for after hours clubs (Roosevelt Avenue has many.)

I think they ran out of mob people to bust, and now they have new targets.

Since the advent of legalized sports betting in NY, one of the few forms of illegal gambling that still remains for knockaround guys to eke out a buck, are private social clubs offering video-gambling (joker-poker type) machines, and card games.

They still take sports bets, but the volume of customers and action wagered has been gutted...and gets worse day by day. Same as years back when OTB came into existence. Horse bets went out the window.

The gambling rackets, which were also a staple and cash cow for the mob, have been slowly, but surely, whittled down to pennies, by comparison to years back. It's fast becoming a dying form of revenue.