Ahmet Mellin.
A Turkish man who was jailed for running an illegal poker den in Palmers Green has this week been ordered to forfeit his assets
Ahmet Melin, 35, who lives in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was ordered to pay the money at a hearing at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday.
He was prosecuted after Enfield Council discovered the Big Bluff Private Members Club in Green Lanes, Palmers Green was not a “non-profit making private members club”, as it claimed in its permit.
The judge at Wood Green Crown Court ruled that Melin had made more than £400,000 through running the club but that he had only had assets of around £50,000 at present. He was ordered to forfeit these. Any further assets that may come to light could also be seized based on a future court order.
Enfield Council said commercial poker operations, which require a casino licence, are not permitted in the borough.
The profits from Big Bluff were deemed criminal assets because they came from illegal poker tournaments, and Melin was found to be withdrawing money from the club for his own purposes.
At his trial last year the judge told Melin that a prison sentence was “inevitable” pointing out that the money he made was not going back into the business, which he had claimed was a ‘private members club’ when seeking a club gaming permit, but was instead paying it into his own account and that modest people from modest backgrounds used the venue as well as professional gamblers.
The judge added that Melin had a long-standing involvement with gambling clubs, and that the operation was run illegally from the outset with poker as its main function. Melin was constantly pushing the boundaries minimising his own role through the use of false accounts and minutes. Melin regarded it as the local authority’s job to stop him from breaking the law.
“These are very serious offences and the council took robust action when it became clear the Big Bluff Private Members Club was a front for an illegal poker den,” said Ian Davis, Enfield Council’s director of environment, at the time.
“I’m pleased Enfield Council’s Licensing Enforcement, Trading Standards and Legal teams worked together to bring this prosecution which sends out the very clear message that we do not tolerate any illegal gambling in this borough.”
Big Bluff was raided by police and council officers in September 2012. It closed down soon afterwards.
Nick Tofiluk, the Commission’s Director of Regulatory Operations said: “This is an excellent example of how a local authority with Gambling Commission support is dealing with illegal gambling in whatever guise it is presented.
“The message is simple – if you offer poker in a club and are breaking the law, action can and will be taken.”