Philadelphia Store Clerk Who Was Shot During Game Cash Theft Sues Banilla Games

• Philadelphia clerk Ahmedein Maham was shot during a robbery targeting skill-gaming cash
  
• Lawsuit claims Banilla machines forced workers to manage large payouts
  
• Case highlights the safety risks of unregulated skill games in Pennsylvania

A Philadelphia store clerk who survived being shot in the face at close range during an armed robbery is suing Banilla Games, the manufacturer and distributor of the skill-gaming machines the attackers were targeting.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ahmedein Maham had been working at the Bridge Market in Philly’s Frankford district for just three days when two robbers struck on the night of September 14, 2024. After shooting Maham, they made off with an unspecified amount of cash kept at the store to pay out winnings for gaming machines installed on the premises.

The store’s store operator, Bridge Market and Wireless, affiliated entity Philly Market, and property owner Eman Realty, are also named in the suit.

‘Machines Lead to Deaths’

The lawsuit centers on the lack of regulatory oversight for skill-gaming machines in Pennsylvania, which means safeguards are not in place to protect workers tasked with handling large amounts of cash, as they would be in a regulated casino environment.

“We allege that these betting machines have led to deaths and serious injuries to low-wage workers and pose a direct threat to every community they enter,” Maham’s attorney, Robert W. Zimmerman, said in a statement.

Casinos are required to have proper security and strong safety measures to protect workers and the public,” Zimmerman added. “The cowards who shot Mr. Maham knew that this store lacked those safety measures and that he was an easy target responsible for a large sum of betting cash on site.”

Maham was rushed to Temple University Hospital for emergency, life-saving medical treatment, according to the lawsuit. He is still recovering from his physical injuries and the psychological trauma caused by the incident.

In an interview with NBC 10 Philadelphia, 11 days after the shooting, Maham said he planned to move to upstate New York because he was “scared to return to Philadelphia.”

Police released security footage in an effort to identify the two armed robbers, who remain at large, according to a news release from Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, the law firm representing Maham.

$15M Payout After Worker Murdered

Last November, the same firm secured a $15.3 million award for the family of Ashokkumar Patel, who was shot and killed during the robbery of a minimart in Hazleton, Pa. In that case, the attacker was also seeking cash reserved for skill-gaming machine payouts, involving terminals made by Pace-O-Matic.

In July, Jafet De Jesus Rodriguez, a local drug dealer, was sentenced to life in prison for the killing.

“From a security perspective, the store was not properly guarded or secured, was unreasonably dangerous, and was unsafe for its invitees and the public at large,” the lawsuit states. “The defendants’ decisions in failing to ensure the premises were safe, secure, and controlled was a negligent, grossly negligent, careless, and reckless act and caused Mr. Maham’s devastating injuries.”