Seven men have been charged with gambling, resulting from police surveillance between May and June of this year of a suspected gambling operation in Nu’uuli.
Floyd Amotai, Christopher Vaega, Sinapati Tuufanua, Bin Feng, Fogavao Ese, Cajetan Diongi—also known as Nick Makuisa—and Te Quin Huang made their initial appearances in District Court early this week.
The police investigation included a video that was forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Division by the Department of Homeland Security. The video, which court records said was recorded by an anonymous source in April showed outside of a building in Nu’uuli that was known as the “684 Cloud” business.
The inside of the building showed about 8 tabletop stations with interactive screens as “as it were a casino floor,” said court filings.
Police investigators showed the video to an individual who was familiar with gaming operations in Hawaii to gain more insight as to the nature of the operation.
The individual explained that the tabletop stations in the video were for a game known as “Fish.” The objective is to catch a fish on the interactive screen with detractors like birds and animals in the way.
The “Phoenix” is the biggest fish, earning the highest points.
On May 5, according to the court records, the Director of Commerce, Aliimuamua Magadalene Petaia requested an investigation into a suspected gambling operation in Nu’uuli, after receiving an anonymous complaint of the operation. The Director said their inspection team lacked the training to identify illegal gaming machines.
Documents provided by DOC said the structure where the alleged gambling was conducted belongs to Tino Logoai and was leased to Taavili Junior Tuitupou. The business was registered as an “Arcade and Skilled Game” and named “Abundance Arcade.”
A movement profile of Tuitupou revealed that he arrived in American Samoa on December 31, 2024, then departed for Hawaii on February 4, 2025.
Police surveillance in the area of Abundance Arcade which started on May 5, showed that the establishment was hardly busy at daytime but was fairly busy at night. Some of the cars that parked there would stay from late night into the early morning the next day.
Police executed a search warrant of the Abundance Arcade on June 19 and found six men inside. Fish table machines, cash totaling $46,261, and controlled substances were seized during the raid.
The defendants include employees of the suspected gambling operation and some players. Feng and Huang were reportedly hired from Hawaii to run the operation for the owner, Tuitupou.
