By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Mel Cabang, right, cuts up with
fellow comedian Frank DeLima in 1986.

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Cabang accused in
gambling, tax case

A federal indictment alleges
he operated a sports
betting operation

By Linda Hosek
Star-Bulletin

Isle comedian Mel Cabang is scheduled to be arraigned April 15 -- the day taxes are due -- for allegedly running a sports betting operation in which he filed false income tax returns.

A federal grand jury yesterday indicted Cabang for 77 criminal counts, including conspiring to operate and operating a sports bookmaking operation from 1991 to 1995, filing false tax returns for those years, money laundering and using telephones to further a gambling operation.

U.S. Attorney Steven Alm said Cabang ran the operation out of his Kamaole Street home in Kalama Valley and described it as "one of the largest" during the years it operated. He declined to say when it shut down.

He said Cabang received bets daily during football and basketball seasons and used "runners" and telephones to receive bets.

Alm said participants placed $3,000 to $5,000 a day in bets and that Cabang's profit at 10 percent ran from $300 to $500.

"It was his show," Alm said.

"He was the prime mover in organizing it."

The indictment alleged that Cabang reported his total income during the five years of the operation as $112,517. But the government alleged that he should have reported $602,476.

Michael Green, Cabang's attorney during the investigation, said he and Cabang had expected the indictment, but declined further comment.

Cabang, who also has appeared in local television commercials, could not be reached for comment.

In the application to search Cabang's home, an Internal Revenue Service agent alleged that an informant contacted him Jan. 9, 1991, describing Cabang as one of the largest bookmakers on Oahu.

The informant alleged that:

Cabang had been a full-time entertainer and part-time gambler until 1990, but switched "because he was making more money in his gambling operation;"

He used some profits to gam-mr6 Mel

Cabangble in Las Vegas, making between $50,000 and $100,000 a year playing blackjack, usually at Sam Boyd's California Hotel and Casino, the Silver Slipper and the Horseshoe;

He owned EMCEE International, Inc., which did creative script writing and television and video production, and he performed as a comedian in 50 to 100 shows, charging $500 or $1,000 a show;

Between gambling, comedy and video production, he made about $125,000 to $200,000 a year, with most coming from bookmaking and gambling;

He bragged that he hadn't reported all of his income on his tax returns, saying: "I only filed around $20,000," and only reported one-third of his comedy income.

The indictment also named Baron Yamabe, David Blanchard, Raymond Bode and Clinton Victorino with conspiring to run the bookmaking operation and Victorino with 65 counts of using a telephone to transmit wagers and gambling information.

Alm said Victorino, a Gardena, Calif., resident, was the "California connection," enabling money to flow between the states.

The grand jury also indicted Barbara Kim, Cabang's girlfriend, with obstructing the IRS investigation by making three false statements to an agent in March 1997.

If convicted as charged, Cabang faces up to 20 years in prison for each of three money laundering counts; up to five years for conspiring to run a betting operation; up to five years for using the mail in his operation; up to three years on each of the five income tax counts; and up to two years on each of 65 counts for using a telephone in the operation.

The money laundering count carries a fine of up to $500,000; the other counts carry fines of up to $250,000.

The indictment also seeks to have him forfeit a Honda automobile and Las Vegas apartment he purchased with alleged proceeds from the operation.

Alm said the Cabang investigation, conducted by the IRS and HPD, took a few years. He also said an earlier one on Greg Yee Chan was instrumental in the Cabang case.

Chan was sentenced to three years in prison for financing and managing a sports gambling operation out of his Village Park home from 1987 to 1993.

Federal prosecutors described Chan's operation as the biggest in the state at the time.

In the search warrant application for Cabang, an IRS agent who worked on Chan's case said it appeared that Cabang worked as a runner for Chan in 1990 and 1991, when he broke away to start his own operation.