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Rice To Riches Racketeering Ring
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 3, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 3, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Holy Rice-A-Roni - it seems the the man who brought new flavors of rice pudding to New Yorkers with Rice to Riches has been arrested for running a $21 million gambling ring! Peter Moceo, who lives at Trump Tower, was arraigned in Long Island; the AP also notes, "His 19 co-defendants included a concierge at Trump Tower, and a father who allegedly had his 9-year-old son relay point spreads via cellphone," - and Moceo's 69 year-old father. Suffolk Country D.A. Thomas Spota said it was "one of the largest gambling operations in Suffolk County," and explained "we're looking at enterprise corruption, money laundering and income tax violations." One brilliant thing that Moceo and his cronies devised was "vig-free Fridays," a day without interest for people placing bets! Moceo certainly knows his customers.
Just yesterday Gothamist was walking by the rice pudding emporium on Spring Street, wondering how business was doing, because it seemed like the downtown demand for high-end rice pudding might have tapped out. The AP says that no gambling business was conducted out of the shop, but we're still going to root through their trash, seeing if there's some sort of special code on the bags of rice or used cartons of cream.
Gothamist's Rice to Riches review and Tien Mao's visit.
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city
corruption
crime
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long island
money
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News: NYC
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rice
running
spring
spring street
suffolk county
The AP
Tien Mao
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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