A man who was accused of running an illegal gaming house out of a café in Metro Vancouver has been fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to a lesser charge, according to authorities. The investigation into the Big Shots Café in Burnaby began in early 2022 when police received information “suggesting illegal gaming activities were taking place,” the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia’s Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team said in a statement Thursday. Francisco Batista Pires, 62, and Angelo Giuseppe, 60, were each charged with one count of keeping a common gaming house in the case. When police announced the charges last year, they said officers raided the business in 2023, seizing slot machines, cards, poker chips, a gaming table, ledgers and approximately $14,000 in cash. Pires pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of providing gaming services under the Gaming Control Act without being a registered gaming worker, the statement from the CFSEU- BC said. He was ordered to pay a $1,500 victim surcharge in addition to the $10,00 fine. The two charges of keeping a common gaming house were stayed at the end of the sentencing hearing, police said. “Illegal gaming houses are often linked to organized crime and money laundering, creating real risks to public safety and community well-being. This investigation demonstrates CFSEU-BC’s commitment to holding offenders accountable and disrupting the criminal networks that profit from illegal gaming,” spokesperson Sgt. Sarbjit K. Sangha said, in the statement.
