Chilling messages reveal how mafia henchmen allegedly threatened and attacked victims of their rigged NBA poker games

Threatening messages allegedly sent by mob members to victims of illegal poker operations were revealed following an explosive FBI investigation that included the arrest of an NBA head coach.

The FBI claims to have uncovered a decades-old Mafia-led poker ring with alleged ties to the Gambino, Bonanno and Genovese crime families, with rigged games being run in Manhattan, the Hamptons and Las Vegas, according to prosecutors.

The indictment states that the alleged scheme involved using professional athletes, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, as “face cards” to lure victims to the table where high-tech methods were used by the mafia to rig games.

Text messages included in the indictment revealed that when the victims did not pay their debts, the men behind the operation threatened and violently attacked them.

In one example, Zhen Hu, 37, of Brooklyn, New York, sent chilling messages to an alleged victim of the ring, identified as John Doe #5, for not paying.

‘Yes? ‘Aren’t you going to pay me?’ Hu asked this question in a message on November 5, 2022, and immediately sent another message: ‘Okay, I bet.’

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups arrested in connection with alleged plot

‘Now pay attention to what’s good. “You run your mouth without checking it,” he later warned in a message he sent a few seconds later.

The indictment says that in the following days, Hu followed through on his threat by allegedly assaulting Doe #5.

He allegedly punched the victim, and authorities said he confirmed this in a separate text message to a separate person.

“I punched someone in the face the other day, it resolves quickly,” he said to the buyer, whose name was not disclosed in the indictment.

Hu allegedly requested to see Doe #5 at Washington Place in New York City, along with two other defendants, Julius Ziliani and Thomas Gelardo. There, Gelardo allegedly attacked Doe #5 once again after he finally got out of the building.

“What you did was cowardly and ridiculous,” Doe #5, who appeared to confirm the attack, wrote Hu almost a year later, according to the indictment.

‘Then you sent a bunch of idiots to solve your problems,’ he added.

The gang also allegedly blackmailed another victim in September and October of 2023, when the player, identified only as John Doe #6, was extending repayment of his debt.

Hu allegedly sent chilling messages to the victim of the ring, identified as John Doe #5

He later confirmed in a separate text message that he assaulted Doe #5.

Doe #6 told Hu that she was ‘very sick’ with the flu, which put her in the hospital, and that she apparently couldn’t make the payment.

In a group chat with other defendants, Hu allegedly told co-defendant Seth Trustman, “If f***o is seen anywhere else in the next two days, you will do whatever it takes to get Seth’s money.”

“I’m so sick of this,” he added.

A month later on October 18, 2023, the group discussed how they expected Doe #6 to make the payment after Trustman allegedly threatened him.

‘Seth has done so much more. ‘Hu nudged him a little,’ he said, later adding: ‘Small but a big threat.’

The indictment states that Doe #6 was captured on surveillance video handing something to a woman from a Black Range Rover at an address on Lexington Avenue on the same date.

He allegedly told Trustman that he would personally deliver $5,000 and send the other $5,000 via transfer.

Hu had saved a photo of the $5,000 check from John Doe #6, dated October 18, 2023, on his cell phone. The payee was left blank and the memo line read: ‘Poker.’

Hu photographed with co-defendants Seth Trustman, Saul Becher, Julius Ziliani and Thomas Gelardo

In a separate incident, Hu allegedly instructed the co-defendant to ‘do whatever you have to do to get the money’ from another victim, identified as John Doe #6.

The alleged scheme is said to have lured victims to rigged poker games that took place in the Hamptons, Miami, Las Vegas and Manhattan by offering them the chance to play alongside coach Billups and former professional athletes, including former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones.

In addition to the aforementioned mobsters and basketball stars, a number of high-profile Mafia members were also named in the FBI’s investigation.

One of the most prominent names is Angelo Ruggiero Jr., son of former Gambino captain Angelo ‘Quack Quack’ Ruggiero Sr.

According to the FBI’s investigation, Ruggiero Jr. is accused of generating “income” from poker games “on behalf of the Gambino family.”

His father, Ruggiero Sr., had a close relationship with notorious Gambino boss John Gotti, who died in prison in 2002.

Alongside Ruggiero Jr., Ernest ‘Ernie’ Aiello, a member of the Bonanno crime family, was also arrested for his alleged role in the illegal poker operation.

Aiello was previously arrested in July 2013 for loansharking, gambling and drug dealing; He was later released following a mistrial in May 2017.

He is similarly accused of profiting from fraudulent poker games on behalf of the Bonanno crime family, according to the indictment.

Ernest ‘Ernie’ Aiello, a member of the Bonanno crime family, was also arrested for his alleged role in the illegal poker operation.

The son of late Gambino captain Angelo ‘Quack Quack’ Ruggiero Sr (pictured) was also arrested by the FBI for his alleged involvement in rigged poker games.

Meanwhile, Gambino mobster Lee Fama was also arrested by the FBI and accused of profiting from fraudulent poker games.

In an explosive news conference Thursday, United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. outlined the breathtaking methods the government alleges were used by New York’s notorious Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese crime families to rig games.

It is claimed that they will use X-ray tables and wear special high-tech contact lenses to read pre-marked cards to tilt the games in their favour.

Nocella Jr. He said: ‘The defendants used a variety of very sophisticated cheating technologies, some of which were provided by other defendants in exchange for a share of the profits from the scheme.’

The FBI, which has been investigating for four years, later alleged that the defendants robbed a victim at gunpoint to obtain a fraudulent mixing machine. They say the victims lost at least $7 million.

The second case, including Billups, involves 31 defendants who allegedly rigged illegal poker games across the country, Nocella said.

Billups was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year. The five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA point guard led the Detroit Pistons to their third league title in 2004 as the NBA Finals MVP. Boston selected the former Colorado star third overall in 1997.

The player known as Mr. Big Shot also played for Toronto, Denver, Minnesota, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the indictments at a press conference on Thursday.

The mafia allegedly used x-ray tables and high-tech contact lenses to read people’s cards

Billups, 49, is compiling a 117-212 record in his fifth season as Portland’s coach. The Trail Blazers opened the season with a 118-114 loss to Minnesota at home on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Jones is also named in a separate indictment, along with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, accusing them of turning professional basketball into a criminal sports betting operation.

Six defendants are accused of participating in an insider sports betting conspiracy that used confidential information about NBA athletes and teams, said Joseph Nocella, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

He called it ‘one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since the widespread legalization of online sports betting in the United States.’