Four arrested in felony money laundering raid

HOUSTON, TX -- After an extensive money laundering investigation lasting nearly a year, the Harris County Precinct One Constable's Office executed seven arrest warrants this morning at locations throughout Harris County.

Each of the suspects is charged with a first degree felony of money laundering. Each is suspected of involvement in the ongoing operation of the “Tejas Game Room' - an illegal game room located in the 1500 block of College Avenue in the City of South Houston.

Of the seven arrest warrants executed, deputies were able to arrest four people:

Sammy Phipps (11/19/88)
Moises Mendez (9/4/74)
Vimalkumar Shirolawala (2/10/76)

A fifth person was arrested on an unrelated misdemeanor charge.

Investigators are still looking to arrest these three felony money laundering suspects listed below:

Mehulkumar Rana (7/16/80)
Bhavesh Joshi (1/17/88)
Gauravkumar Patel (1/29/90)

Mehulkumar Rana is believed to be the owner of the illegal game room. While investigators believe he is in hiding, they continue to follow leads that ultimately will lead to his arrest.

Investigators say the game room was netting $60,000-100,000 per night.

This is the fourth time since 2018 that Precinct One has conducted a raid and shut down the business. Building a case of this magnitude and establishing the evidence necessary to prove the a felony money laundering case takes significant resources, time and team work.

'This is a game room that steals from people on fixed incomes,' said Constable Alan Rosen. 'We're taking it very serious. We're tired of this. I think the public is tired of this.'

If you have any information on the whereabouts of those still wanted in connection with this case you can contact Harris County Precinct One Constable's Dispatch at (713) 755-7618.

Constable Rosen would personally like to thank all our partners who helped bring this case to fruition, including the Harris County District Attorney's Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, the Gulf Coast Violent Offender's Task Force, Harris County Attorney's Office and the Houston Fire Department.