PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Two more people have been arrested in connection with the statewide raid of adult arcades, including in Delray Beach and Fort Pierce.
Earlier this month, seven people were arrested, including two from Palm Beach County and one from St. Lucie County, after the Florida Gaming Control Commission announced the bust of multiple illegal gambling operations in the state on May 9.
On Thursday, Peter Brover, 64, of St. Petersburg, and Leo Kutin, 64, of Nokomis, which is south of Sarasota, were arrested and face charges of racketeering, conspiracy to committee racketeering, money laundering, conspiracy of money laundering more than $100,000, keeping a gambling house, agent/employee of gambling house and 40 counts of unlawful possession of slot machine devices.
Brover and Kutin were listed as co-owners of Lucky Game Lounge in Tampa and Sunbizz Arcade in St. Petersburg.
They were taken to Palm Beach County Jail on Thursday but released the next day on bonds of $143,000 each.
Also raided were Players Paradise Arcade, 4900 Linton Blvd. in Delray Beach and Midway Arcade, 4986 25th St. in Fort Pierce.
Information was included in a 74-page probable cause affidavit available on the Palm Beach Clerk's Office website.
Seized were 360 slot machines, including 120 in Delray Beach and 93 in Fort Pierce.
Also taken were more than $1 million in assets, cash, computers and ATMs.
Earlier arrested were 57-year-old brothers, Alexandre Barmak of Fort Pierce and Leonid Barmak of Jupiter; Yuliya Sobolevska, 42, who lived in Jupiter with Leonid Barmak, and married couple Alexandre Friedman, 63, and Anna Friedman, 58, of Sunny Isles in Miami-Dade County.
The state gaming commission received a complaint about the Midway Arcade, which prompted them to serve a warning notice letter of Florida gambling laws on Jan. 27.
"Illegal gambling establishments operate outside the legal, regulated market to exploit vulnerable Floridians," Lou Trombetta, the FGCC executive director, said in a statement. "They are usually associated with organized crime, do not generate state tax revenue, and do not provide the same consumer protections or safeguards as legal gaming operators."
In July 1 last year gambling sites became illegal except at 15 approved casinos, mainly in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. A Gaming Compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida in May 2021 gave the Native American tribe almost exclusive rights to most gambling activities.
The Florida Gaming Commission also was created last summer.
