Tiny Alabama Town Has Assets Frozen Over Illegal Gambling

Alabama's Attorney General has froze the City of Lipscomb assets as part of an illegal gambling investigation.

Officials need to hand over all financial records to state Attorney General Steve Marshall after a temporary restraining order filed on Nov. 20 froze the city's assets, as well as those of Jay's Charity Bingo and its owners. That means no money can come in, and no money can go out.

Lipscomb's population is just around 2000.  The town is located just southwest of Birmingham, Alabama's most populous city.

In a lawsuit filed the same day, the attorney general claims the city of Lipscomb is responsible for licensing Jay's Charity to operate an illegal gambling facility with the city profiting from its "illegal funding" from "illegal gambling".

On Thursday morning, WVTM 13 saw state agents confiscating bingo-style slot machines at Jay's Charity Bingo, which later featured a sign that read the building was a "public nuisance".

A spokesperson tells WVTM 13 that the facility reopened in August after a previous run-in with the law but was caught bringing in more illegal gambling machines.

Those machines, investigators say, were stolen from a gambling facility in Selma and found at Jay's Charity. Five people were charged.