The Denver District Attorney has filed hundreds of charges against three operators of skill games charges say included illegal gambling.
The business owners, Bagrat and Tammy Garamov and their associate Eduard Gugulyan are charged with running gambling through American Pride Skill Games, El Dorado Skill Games, and La Fortuna. They were arrested March 23.
The trio were hit with 430 charges, which included possession of gambling devices, maintaining gambling premises, shipping/invoicing slot machines and fraudulent gaming acts.
They were the subject of a year-long undercover investigation. But they have also received publicity from local TV investigations. Reporters found that while the operators claimed to run legal amusements such as are found in Dave and Buster’s restaurants, the machines offered cash payments. Such machines fit the definition of gambling in most jurisdictions.
The owners, insist their machines are skill games, which by definition means that players are rewarded for better playing, rather than luck. They were scheduled to appear before a judge on April 13 and May 14.
They are supported by the Colorado Skill Games and Entertainment Association (CSGEA).
They point out that Colorado lawmakers are currently trying to pass a law making their games illegal. That would make what they do currently legal, they argue.
Denver law enforcement officials disagree. In a statement the Denver County District Attorney said, “Neither the businesses nor their co-owners are licensed to possess slot machines or to operate gaming establishments by the Colorado Division of Gaming,” adding “Gambling is only legal in Colorado in limited circumstances and locations that do not apply to the alleged above illegal gaming activities.”
