A second gas station in Emporia is now under investigation for illegal gambling machines.
According to Kansas Racing and Gaming Government Relations Manager and Law Enforcement Officer Randy Evans, state officers served a search warrant at the Amoco gas station at 2102 West Sixth Street Wednesday morning. He told KVOE News four machines were seized in the search; however, he cannot confirm whether or not any money or receipts of illegal gambling have been recovered.
That said, Evans told KVOE News it is typical in these sorts of situations to recover something of that kind. Evans also noted they have conducted previous searches of this same property when it was under different ownership.
No additional information is available at this time as this is an ongoing investigation. Evans did note this is a separate matter from the seizure and resulting civil forfeiture case announced earlier this year involving Emporia’s Sunoco Star Mart at 505 South Commercial Street.
The civil forfeiture case, filed in Lyon County this past summer, ended with a default judgment, meaning the state was able to keep the seized funds totaling $3,128, as no individual came forward to claim an interest in the default property in the allotted time frame. The decision was rendered on July 21.
Tushar Patel was listed as the owner of the Emporia Sunoco location.
