News/jahrelang-unentdeckt-bingo-bande-im-altenheim-endlich-aufgeflogen

Undiscovered for years: bingo gang in old people's home finally busted

By Barbara Ziegler Published on: January 18, 2018 Updated on: July 11, 2024

Illegal gambling takes place in the dim back room of some basement bar? A naive cliché. It takes place among us and is carried out by those who, due to their advanced age, we would not even trust with such criminal energy. In the Riehler Heimstätten, the largest senior residence in Cologne.

Illegal gambling in public. The seemingly unsuspicious dining room in the Riehler homes. (©SBK)

They gambled in broad daylight in the large dining room. Again and again. Every Tuesday, the residents of the Riehler Heimstätten retirement home surrendered to the intoxication of risk. Your game: bingo. The stake: cash. They stocked up on playing cards for admission of up to one euro. Your goal: hastily cross off the announced numbers, be faster than everyone else, and celebrate with a triumphant “BINGO!” secure one of the main prizes: chocolate, sometimes even pralines! The perfidious calculation of the organizers: two of the greatest scourges of humanity as irresistible lures, the disastrous combination of gambling and chocolate addiction.

But is such frivolous behavior even allowed in Canada? Hardly. But the bureaucracy, which was so often criticized, knew nothing about the abysses that were opening up here, probably with the knowledge of the home management. And that for years. It took the keen eyes of an independent and fearless auditor to uncover this blatant breach of applicable law. In the course of meticulous research, he came across a piece of paper that seemed harmless to the layman. The receipt for a box of chocolates with the tell-tale note “Bingo Prizes”.

Could it be? Was bingo being played in the house for prizes? Luckily the righteous man, perhaps a German, knew what to do. He dutifully shared his horrifying suspicions with the lawyers Social Enterprises Cologne (SBK) with. These GLI compare the hard facts with the requirements of the law: Was there a distribution of profits? Yes, chocolate, sometimes even pralines. Were assignments due? Yes, one euro. Was it played in public? Yes, everyone was allowed to take part. Clear case of gambling! Without the approval, which is of course necessary in Canada!