Chicago – A Chicago man already targeted by federal investigators for allegedly running a multimillion-dollar video poker business in Cook County was arrested Tuesday on federal gambling and tax fraud charges.
Casey Szaflarski, acting through his Berwyn business, Amusements Inc., was charged with conducting an illegal gambling business since 2002. He was charged Tuesday along with two others, bringing the total to seven, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Szaflarski was also charged with three counts of filing a false federal income tax return and one count of failing to file a federal tax return, the release said.

The gambling and tax charges were brought in a superceding indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week and unsealed Tuesday following Szaflarski’s arrest, the release said. The charges allege he failed to report more than $255,000 of business income between 2004 and 2006, and failed to file a federal income tax return for 2007.

The superceding indictments adds new charges Szaflarski, who was one of seven people indicted in May 2009 on federal racketeering conspiracy charges. Those charges allege eight years of criminal activity, including armed robberies and thefts, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice and arson — including the pipe-bombing of a competing Berwyn video and vending machine business in 2003, the release said.

The indictment adds a new forfeiture allegation seeking at least $3.6 million from Szaflarski, Michael Sarno and Mark Polchan, as proceeds of the alleged illegal gambling activity. The indictment results from federal search warrants executed at more than two dozen suburban locations, including bars and restaurants, on May 27, 2009, the release said.

The new charges carry penalties of up to 14 yeas in prison and fines of more than $850,000 for convictions on all counts, the release said.

Newly unsealed court documents in February showed Szaflarski is also the target of an ongoing federal investigation of mob-controlled video poker machines across the Chicago area. The investigation comes as the state recently legalized video gaming to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenues.