Raided businesses deny illegal gambling allegations, customers shocked
Posted: Dec 3, 2011 1:58 AM EDT | Updated: Nov 6, 2014 3:06 PM EDT
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ---None of the managers or business owners ABC 57 News talked to would go on camera after state troopers and the gaming commission raided the businesses Friday after a two year investigation into an illegal gambling ring.
The manager at Frank's Place bar says the bar is still open for business like always and that these raids were nothing more than routine inspections.
Businesses like Dealmakers Auto Sales and Main Event Hair Salon seem like the last place you would find a bookie placing bets, but that is exactly what investigators say is happening at these businesses.
In our search for answers, ABC 57 talked to several customers, some who say if you gamble on sports you know where you go, but for others this is the first time they have heard of this.
"I was very shocked and surprised because I never thought or believed they would be doing anything like that," says Michelle Grammatica.
Grammatica says she is a regular customer at Frank's Place Liquor store off Hickory Road in Mishawaka. It is one of the places the game commission says has been under investigation, but she says the allegations seems unlikely.
"No, I haven't seen anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. They are always very professional," says Grammatica.
Many of the businesses did not want to talk, but the daughter of the owner of Frank's Place bar said, off camera, that investigators did not find anything or take anything during their search.
She says Frank's has nothing to hide, which is why they are cooperating fully with investigators right now.