All-in or Nothing

Rene Medina�s Colma casino brought life to a city of cemeteries. It also brought federal agents looking for corruption.

Comments (0) By Ron Russell Wednesday, May 9 2007

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Within days of Medina's arrest, Loida Nicolas Lewis, who heads the Federation of Filipino American Associations, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, savaged the indictment, saying it smacked of "bigotry and discrimination."

"He's the only Filipino casino owner in California and the feeling is that he's been singled out for aggressive treatment," says San Francisco attorney and Medina supporter Rodel Rodis. "The sentiment among Filipinos is that there's a racist component to this."

Paolo Vescia

Lucky Chances Casino.

Paolo Vescia

Rene Medina, shown here at the casino's grand opening in 1998.

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Quite aside from gambling, the casino's two restaurants are a locus of Filipino American civic life. Rene's Fine Dining, the nicer of the two, has hosted gatherings for visiting Philippine dignitaries, including diplomats, cabinet ministers, and even a former first lady. On such occasions, as at other times, those who know him say, Medina relishes the role of institutional host.

Depending on the outcome of the government's case, it's a role that could be endangered.

Friends and associates say that the card room impresario is carrying on as usual, often putting in 16-hour days at his beloved Lucky Chances.

Rumors in town persist that one or both council members accused of illegally accepting gifts from Medina might be cooperating with federal prosecutors. A spokeswoman for newly appointed U.S. Attorney Scott Schools says that neither he nor the assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to the case would comment. "I wouldn't say that people are particularly nervous," says Colma Historical Society president Pat Hatfield. "But there's also a sense that this might not yet be over."

Cristina Arguedas, Medina's defense attorney, sounds a confident note. "It's a tax charge. Why were no other charges brought against him? The answer is that there's nothing else to be charged. There's nothing there."

Indeed, if the federal probe aimed to uncover widespread major criminal activity, it appears — thus far, at least — to have been a bust. Besides the tax charges against Medina and two of his relatives, the accusations against the former councilmen — the only other prosecutions it has produced — are hardly blockbuster. In pleading guilty to accepting airline tickets to the Philippines from Medina and not reporting them on campaign finance forms, neither Lum nor Maldonado, the ex-councilmen, were accused of bribery.

All the same, in the months leading up to his being indicted, Medina transferred ownership of his other enterprises to his three sons, Rommel, 34, Remil, 32, and Ruell, 30. And although the Division of Gambling Control must yet approve, in recent months he has moved to transfer legal ownership of his casino interests to two of the sons.

The casino king may be hedging his bets.