Allston market ran an illegal slot parlor, state says

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office filed a petition Monday to confiscate thousands of dollars seized by Boston police in May from an illegal slot parlor in Allston. 

Boston police responded to the Harvard Convenience Store on Brighton Avenue on May 31 in response to a report that minors were drinking alcohol and gambling in the storefront, according to the filing obtained and first reported on by Universal Hub. In the shop, officers were taken to a room next to the cashier’s front counter that contained three slot machines, which accepted cash bets and then generated vouchers for the gambler to redeem for cash from the store, the state said. Several adults were in the room, one of whom was observed by police “scrambling” to remove a voucher from a slot machine as officers entered, according to the filing.

The AG’s office said that later in the day, police obtained a search warrant for the store, discovering and seizing $182,289.11 in cash and vouchers related to the machines. 

“The store facilitated this gaming enterprise entirely with cash to: (a) conceal the nature, source, ownership or control of the criminal proceeds; and (b) to avoid tax reporting requirements,” the AG’s office wrote. 

The store is not licensed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to operate slot machines, according to the filing, and the state is seeking to confiscate the seized money under a civil forfeiture statute related to illegal gaming.

According to Universal Hub, police did not charge anyone related to the raid at the convenience store, but issued a licensing citation for the business. 

An attorney representing the owners of the store declined to comment.