In total, this Thursday (10/23) the FBI arrested 34 people on charges of participating in two major schemes to manipulate sports betting and poker games
An NBA player and coach are among more than 30 people arrested this Thursday (10/23) in an operation launched by the FBI investigating a vast scheme of illegal sports betting and mafia-related poker game manipulation in the United States.
Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups have been named by federal prosecutors in two separate cases, both involving fraud.
The NBA announced the immediate removal of Billups and Rozier from their respective teams.
Rozier, 31, is among six people arrested for alleged betting irregularities, including other NBA players who may have faked injuries to influence betting markets.
The group also allegedly used players’ inside and confidential information to help third parties profit.
Billups, a Hall of Fame player who has coached the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021, is one of 31 people charged in a separate fraud case involving illegal poker games involving retired players sponsored by the Cosa Nostra crime families.
13 members and associates of the Bonnnano, Genovese and Gambino families were arrested.
According to the FBI, those involved in the games used special technologies, including contact lenses that could read cards, tampered with shuffling machines and methods of secret communication between partners.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the “incomprehensible” fraud involved tens of millions of dollars over many years.
Former NBA player Damon Jones was also arrested. According to the indictment, he is accused of participating in both schemes, both sports betting and illegal poker games.
Attorney James Trusty, who represents Rozier, denied the allegations against the athlete and said they were based on “spectacularly incredible sources rather than actual evidence of wrongdoing.”
Trusty said Rozier never faked an injury or warned anyone, as prosecutors allege.
According to CBS News, the BBC’s American partner, Rozier was released after giving up his $6 million home in Florida as collateral.
Billups’ attorney, Chris Heywood, arranged for the coach’s release on the condition that he surrender his passport, obtain bail, limit his travel and refrain from gambling or contacting other defendants, according to information from local outlet The Oregonian/OregonLive.
How poker games were rigged
One of the cases investigated concerns an illegal cheating scheme in the game of poker.
According to the Department of Justice, since 2019, members of the system have organized underground illegal poker games that were secretly rigged using cheating technology.
They used modified shuffling machines, equipped with technology that allowed them to read all the cards in the deck and determine which player would have the winning hand.
This information, according to the FBI, was transmitted to an external accomplice, who transmitted it via cell phone to a player sitting at the table, who, in turn, sent secret signals to the other players at the table.
This way they could win poker games against their victims.
The defendants are also accused of using a poker chip tray that secretly reads cards using hidden cameras, an X-ray table that can read face down cards, and special contact lenses or glasses that can read pre-marked cards.
The Justice Department says victims lost at least $7 million through rigged poker games, with violent acts such as assaults and robberies used to secure debt payments through mob members.
Nocella described the fraud scheme as “profitable and highly sophisticated in deceiving victims and stealing millions of dollars.”
How the betting system worked
The second case investigated by the police concerns the manipulation of sports bets.
According to the FBI, members of the betting scheme obtained non-public information about NBA players and sold it to influence the betting scheme, court documents show.
Damon Jones, for example, served as an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season, a role that gave him access to players’ medical information.
The indictment alleges that before a Lakers game in February 2023, Jones informed an unidentified accomplice that a certain player was injured and would not be playing that night, which would give the opposing team an advantage.
“Place a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the info gets out! [Jogador 3] he’s out tonight,” Jones wrote in a text to his partner, according to the court document. And, sure enough, the Lakers lost that game.
The scheme, however, did not always work.
Prosecutors say that before a Lakers game in January 2024, Jones learned that one of the team’s best players — whose name was redacted from the documents — had suffered an injury that was likely to affect his performance.
Jones and an accomplice allegedly sold this information to a sports bettor, also named as a defendant in the indictment, for $2,500. The bettor then bet $100,000 against the Lakers based on information purchased from Jones, according to the document.
But the apparently injured player ended up playing up to his season average, and the Lakers won.
That prompted the gambler to ask for his money back — the $2,500 he paid for the information — a request that Jones and his associate refused, according to the court document.
Which NBA games would have received illegal bets?
According to the Department of Justice, seven NBA games that took place between February 2023 and March 2024 were the subject of illegal betting.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the defendants “turned professional basketball into a criminal gambling operation, using private locker rooms and medical information to enrich themselves and defraud legitimate sportsbooks.”
The matches are:
- Charlotte Hornets game on March 23, 2023
Terry Rozier allegedly told an accomplice that he planned to leave the game early due to an injury. Program participants then bet more than $200,000 that Rozier would perform below expectations, before leaving the match after nine minutes. According to the Department of Justice, this generated tens of thousands of dollars in profits.
- Portland Trail Blazers game on March 24, 2023
Eric Earnest allegedly received and passed on inside information from an NBA coach that several Blazers players were sitting out the game against the Chicago Bulls. Before the information became public, Marves Fairley and his associates allegedly bet more than $100,000 against the Blazers and “made significant winnings.”
- Orlando Magic game on April 6, 2023
Marves Fairley reportedly took advantage of a tip that several of the Orlando Magic’s key players would miss the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is accused of betting about $11,000 on the Cavaliers going over the point margin.
- Los Angeles Lakers games on February 9, 2023 and January 15, 2024
Former NBA player and coach Damon Jones allegedly provided partners with the program confidential medical information about Lakers players before it was made public so they could place bets.
- Toronto Raptors games on January 26, 2024 and March 20, 2024
Jontay Porter, then a player for the Toronto Raptors, informed his accomplices that he would leave the games scheduled for those dates prematurely. According to the Department of Justice, when he actually abandoned both matches early, several fraudulent bets succeeded.
What the NBA says
Following the arrests, the NBA released a statement announcing the dismissal of Rozier and Billups from their respective teams.
“We are reviewing the federal charges announced today. Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups will be removed from their teams immediately and we will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities. We take these charges with the utmost seriousness and the integrity of our game remains our highest priority,” he said.
The union representing NBA players told the BBC it wants “fair trial” for arrested players.
The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) represents current professional basketball players, advocating for their protection and benefits.
“The integrity of the game is paramount to NBA players, but so is the presumption of innocence, and both are compromised when players’ popularity is misused to gain attention,” an NBPA spokesperson said.
“We will ensure that our members are protected and have the right to due process throughout this process.”
Source: Terra
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