NO WHERE TO GO: Cu Van Nguyen, who was arrested in the June raid, says dozens of older people would have no place to socialize if both centers close permanently.
WESTMINSTER – Accusations of illegal gambling have led to the closure of a senior center catering to Vietnamese- Americans and threaten to shut down another.
Little Saigon developer Frank Jao has evicted the Asian American Senior Citizen Association from its Bolsa Avenue center. A letter from Jao’s Bridgecreek Realty Investment Corp. said the nonprofit group’s lease was violated when 11 people were arrested in June on suspicion of gambling.
And association officials say they are in negotiations with the city to either hand over the group’s Hospital Circle center property or pay the fair-market price for it. The property – purchased with nearly $200,000 in federal redevelopment funds – has doubled in value, officials say.
Cu Van Nguyen, 81, one of those arrested in June, said the loss of both centers would leave dozens of older people with no place to socialize.
As the primary caretaker for his wife, who suffered a stroke three years ago, Nguyen considers the Bolsa Avenue center a respite.
“It’s relaxation for me and a place for stress relief,” the Garden Grove resident said in Vietnamese.
The closure is just the latest fallout from the arrests at both centers. The Westminster City Attorney’s office is handling the prosecution of the misdemeanor cases.
Westminster police and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office are continuing to investigate whether there is enough evidence to charge association president Kathy Diep and vice president Tan Vu with fraud and running an illegal gambling establishment on the center’s grounds.
Association officials said they would go bankrupt if forced to pay back the money for the center, appraised at $400,000 in November. Diep said city officials are treating the group unfairly when they have not been convicted of a crime.
City officials say they repeatedly warned the association that complaints were coming from Vietnamese-Americans about illegal gambling at both centers. They said they fear that taking no action would jeopardize future federal grants if authorities discover the center was misusing its money.
Mayor Margie Rice said there are no official plans to take back the center.
In the meantime, an attorney representing the association filed a motion Friday in Superior Court seeking to disqualify the city attorney from prosecuting the 11 cases. Vu Trinh argued that the city has a conflict of interest because the city has a financial stake in the outcome. A hearing on the motion is expected to begin Sept. 26.
Trinh also says City Councilman Andy Quach set up two meetings with the association in July in an attempt to strong-arm the group into giving back the land or paying fair-market value to the city.
Quach said Diep called the meetings and he attended them to explain the process to the group, not to threaten anyone.
The city has given the association $223,560 in grants since 2001 to provide a range of services for seniors, including recreational activities and meals. This year, the group received $100,000 to rehabilitate the Hospital Circle facility and to build a kitchen to prepare meals. The money is being withheld pending the outcome of the investigations.
Police began watching the center more than a year ago. During a June 22 search of the two locations, at 9880 Bolsa Ave. and 220 Hospital Circle, police found score and payment ledgers, cards, poker chips and mah-jongg tiles used in traditional games.
The Bolsa Avenue center closed Aug. 31.
Diep denies any wrongdoing, and said she did not profit from gambling. The centers have been struggling financially, she said.
“I think they put us against a wall and want to destroy this association over nothing without even going through the courts,” Diep said in Vietnamese.
“It makes me sad for the seniors and other people in the community worried about not having a center,” she said.