Defence lawyers for three men accused of operating an illegal casino in a house near Oakridge Centre succeeded in persuading a justice of the peace to adjourn their clients’ case until late June.
Wu Rong Zan, 45, Ng Mun Bun, 55 and Li Wen Bo, 47, are charged with keeping an illegal gaming house. None of them were in court or online for their first appearance on April 21. The Crown wanted a four-week adjournment to May 19, but the justice of the peace agreed to more than two months because defence lawyers haven’t received evidence disclosure packages.
They are accused of running the gambling den in a rented house on West 45th Ave., west of Columbia Street, from Sept. 14, 2020 to Oct. 12, 2020. Vancouver Police officers found the illegal operation when they responded to a 9-1-1 call in October 2020.
Via search warrants, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit’s Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team collected scoresheets with client names and cash balance sheets, cellular phones, a money counter, poker chips, poker tables and playing cards, and almost $221,000 in Canadian cash.
The cases of Burnaby’s Wu and Vancouver’s Ng return to court on June 21 and Burnaby’s Li on June 24.
The Vancouver court date came the day after the case of Ka Hei Tsui came before a judge in Richmond Provincial Court.
Tsui was allegedly found without lawful excuse in a gaming or betting house on Nov. 5, 2020, in a duplex on General Currie Road near Garden City Road.
Shao Chuan Adam Chang, 27, is charged with running the operation between Sept. 1, 2020, and Nov. 5, 2020. A warrant is outstanding for Chang, but 21-year-old Tsui’s next appearance is May 18.
