Local News in Brief : 2 Accused as Loan Sharks
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A Commerce poker club dealer and her husband were arrested Friday on suspicion of loan sharking and extortion, authorities said.
Kwok Yu, 29, and Sokna Long, 35, of Monterey Park allegedly loaned money at 10% interest per week and “threatened violence to those (borrowers) slow in repaying,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Kathryn Nielsen said.
Kwok is a card dealer at the Commerce Casino, and many of the people to whom she and her husband made loans were players at the club, Lt. Phil Bullington said. Along with poker, the Telegraph Road club features a number of Chinese gambling games, including Pai Gow.
Investigators were unable to say how much money was loaned, or how many people were involved.
The arrests followed a two-month investigation, Nielsen said. No other club employees were targeted in the investigation, Bullington said.
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