Examiner staff could not confirm continued gambling at the long-standing, Beaumont-based Fred’s Game Room, which has also been known by a host of other names over the years due to property deed holders and “owners” being shuffled. Not getting in wasn’t from lack of trying, though; but, as not “regular people,” admission was denied to otherwise regular-looking people. Still, that doesn’t mean the “entertainment-only gaming site” previously linked to illegal gambling by Beaumont police time and time again can’t – even still – be found in close consort with illicit criminal activity, as well as the original owner previously convicted of promoting gambling at the very same address.
Year after year, the property at 2895 S. 4th Street continues to garner permit approval as a gaming site in Beaumont, Texas, a state where gambling is illegal; and, year after year, the connection to criminal leadership documented in police reports of illicit gambling continues to stay the same. Taking a brief trip down memory lane leads to the original “Fred,” Farid Ali Datoo, who was caught at the business-end of a Beaumont Police Department (BPD) search-and-seize warrant raid in 2016 where officers confiscated $49,518 and Datoo’s freedom, albeit briefly. Extensive police manpower, weeks of collecting witness statements and assorted evidence, and a full-scale police presence resulted in the seizure of 83 gambling device boards, nearly $50,000 in cash, a semi-automatic weapon and ammunition for a semi-automatic weapon. City of Beaumont Code Inspection noted municipal violations; Entergy cut off power to the property; a charge of keeping a gambling place was recommended. Two years later, Datoo pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor offense connected to the warrant service and paid a $1,500 fine; Fred’s Game Room was already back in business.
An heir is named
With Datoo facing criminal charges, a new name entered ownership of 2895 S. 4th Street. The property, valued at just $81,000 on the tax rolls, was deeded to Jisan Makanojiya, who now lists residence at a mansion in Richmond but then hailed from an apartment at 1303 El Camino in Houston. Makanojiya then leased the Beaumont property to an “operator” to run as 4th Street Gameroom. Datoo was never far from the action, according to documents filed with the secretary of State, though, and the enterprise blossomed from every facet of the group.
The El Camino address, for example, was home to more than one person with the last name Makanojiya — as revealed in criminal complaints against the El Camino residents.
Named defendants Altaf Makanojiya and his VIP Slot Distributors Inc. business were also routed to 1305 El Camino and 1303 El Camino, respectively. According to the federal complaint against Altaf Makanojiya and VIP, the El Camino resident committed $10.4 million in damages against 8-liner maker WMS by stealing copyrighted gaming material and making cloned games available to game room purveyors. Although guilt was assessed in 2012; as of press time, according to the Department of Justice, there is no record of any payment toward the judgment.
Jisan Makanojiya is additionally named as a founder in business with Azim Makanojiya, introduced amid criminal activity in 2014 — 2016 with a price-fixing conspiracy as President and Director of a closely held company, Zaappaaz, Inc, d/b/a WB Promotions, Inc., Wrist-Band.com, and Customlanyard.net. He is also the first Makanojiya to reference business in Richmond, where eventually Azim, Altaf and Jisan Makanojiya will claim residence at a $4.86 million estate — 35 Cadence.
Azim Makanojiya was found guilty of the two years of price-fixing and agreed to pay a $1.9 million penalty in 2017. However, Azim Makanojiya wouldn’t stay off federal prosecutors’ radar for long — as the conman was again enveloped in a $37.5 million fraud on worldwide customers during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to FTC filings as of March 2024, the Zaappaaz brand was utilized by Azim Makanojiya in 2020 to siphon funds from would-be personal protective equipment (PPE) consumers. More than $12.2 million in product was never shipped; and about $25.3 million worth of product was shipped much later than promised, the government alleged, impacting roughly 50,000 customers.
Zaappaaz was still operational as of 2024, and Makanojiya reportedly owns several other businesses that also sell products online.
Kroozin Texas, pushing buttons
For men living in Richmond, the Makanojiya enterprise is strong in Southeast Texas. Jisan Makanojiya, already the owner of property home to Fred’s Game Room, has also taken on the role as payor of the 2895 S. 4th Street property tax, as well as the personal property tax of the gaming machines at the site.
Makanojiya is also connected to prior Fred’s Game Room owner Datoo, as both are listed as managing members of the Kroozin convenience store chain, based in Baytown. Kroozin also has local sites throughout the Golden Triangle, as well as one roughly two blocks from West Brook High School in Beaumont.
Originally, a request to house a 30-game game room at the Beaumont Kroozin strip store was forwarded to the city for approval in 2021 but was later scaled down.
When tasked with preparing a staff report on the initial request, now-Assistant City Manager Chris Boone, then the Planning and Community Development director, recommended denying the request.
“Beaumont police were asked to provide feedback as to whether or not calls for service to the police department are higher near game rooms,” Boone reported. “The research showed that crime, especially auto theft, robbery and violent robbery are much higher near these facilities.”
Crime tends to follow Jisan Makanojiya, who has been arrested in Harris County, by Houston police and by League City police — at least. Harris County Constable Pct. 2 Jerry Garcia reported that, Sept. 28, 2024, deputies were dispatched to a theft of business call in the 12300 block of Scarsdale Boulevard. After drinking more than $200 worth of alcohol, a man identified as Jisan Makanojiya refused to pay and was arrested and charged with theft.
According to what Southeast Texas self-ascribed gaming purveyor spokesperson Mohammad Arshad told the Beaumont City Council, gaming machines allegedly barely bring in enough income to cover the cost of a single employee. Gaming sites such as Fred’s Game Room have been recorded as taking in much more. Houston area gaming site purveyors, now facing charges for criminal activity, have also notably taken in much more than the cost of a single employee’s annual salary.
An April indictment of Houston area gaming purveyors showed the amount of funds that can be garnered from illegal neighborhood gambling. The 32-page federal indictment includes wiretapped conversations between Nazir Ali and other game room owners that reveal the massive profits generated by the illegal gaming operations.
Nazir Ali, in early 2023, was recorded discussing: a monthly profit of $206,000 from a single game room with Stephanie Huerta, a collection of money from the illegal gaming machines totaling over $22,000 with Sayed Ali, and removing more than $100,000 from gaming machines per a discussion with Anabel Eloisa Guevarra.
Furthermore, Ali’s Feb. 11, 2024, discussion with Claudia Calderon proved her game room profited $9,800 in a single evening.
Despite connection to Beaumont gaming and relativity of operations, the public is expected to believe Beaumont game room owners are profiting like paupers while, less than 90 miles south, businessmen with the same MO are raking in millions.