SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Police have arrested a man for operating gambling machines in a convenience store.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office has charged Ranjit Kahler with charges relating to operating illegal gaming devices. Officials say the charges are third-degree felonies.
Authorities say the consoles were found at the PennyWise Mart convenience store located at 1245 South 900 West in Salt Lake City.
Authorities discovered 20 gaming consoles inside Kahler’s convenience store, “with four devices attached together and affixed to a single tabletop screen at five different stations throughout the store.”
The devices were found labeled as “amusement devices,” despite being gambling machines, according to charging documents.
Undercover operations were deployed multiple times throughout March 2022 to confirm the machines were not “skill-based,” but instead printed out a ticket that was redeemable at the store, paying winners in cash instead of a non-monetary prize such as a toy or souvenir.
Investigators discovered Kahler was present at the store during the period in question and was responsible for paying out the cash proceeds to customers who played the machines.
Kahler has been ordered to pay a fine of $27,355 which authorities say represents the “proceeds of illicit gambling or proceeds of the legal business activity used to promote the illicit gambling,” charging documents show.
The bounty of illegal gambling machines and tabletop devices have also been seized as illegal contraband.
