Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

A McDowell County pharmacist under federal indictment on money laundering and gambling charges spoke freely to undercover Internal Revenue Service agents about how he ran the gambling operation and skimmed profits from his drug store, a federal search warrant affidavit unsealed Thursday revealed. Saad Kamil Deeb, who owns and operates Citizen's Pharmacy in Welch, was indicted last month by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to evade reporting about $1.7 million in income he received from allegedly operating a gambling parlor, his own gambling profits and from skimming $250,000 or more a year from the business for four or five years. Deeb's accountant, Bluefield resident Charles "Bud" Donchatz, has been cooperating with federal investigators for more than a year and introduced the undercover agents to the pharmacist. Agents recorded a number of the meetings, including one at Donchatz' office in February where Deeb admitted he had been making deposits and withdrawals from a McDowell County bank in amounts just below the $10,000 federally-required reporting mark, the affidavit states. He also acknowledged doing Internet gambling, most of it in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, according to the affidavit. And, the affidavit states, Deeb said he did not want to pay taxes on his profits. "I'm taking about a quarter of a million a year," Deeb is quoted as telling the agent about skimming the pharmacy profits. "I don't like to report all this sh- and pay taxes on it." But he also expressed reservations about his alleged illegal activities in February and seemed to have the feeling IRS agents were closing in on his activities. "I'm expecting any day they're going to come," the undercover agent reported Deeb told him. Investigators also went through the income tax returns of Deeb's former girlfriend, Sherrie Hickson, and his friend, state liquor inspector Jimmy Kemal Hazemey, the affidavit revealed. Both allegedly did banking and moved money around for Deeb, though neither has been charged.