NBA stars and mafia among dozens arrested in illegal gambling crackdown

An NBA player and his coach are among dozens of people arrested as part of the FBI’s sweeping investigation into illegal sports betting and rigged, mob-related poker games.

Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were named in two separate indictments by federal prosecutors on Thursday.

Rozier, 31, is among six people arrested for alleged betting irregularities; They include other NBA players who fake injuries to influence gambling markets.

Billups, a Hall of Famer who has coached the Portland Trail Blazers since 2021, is one of 31 people charged in a separate illegal poker gaming case involving retired players and the mob.

The case, which prosecutors said involved four of five major crime families in New York, revealed an alleged scheme to persuade victims to play rigged poker games with high-profile sports stars before stealing millions of dollars.

They did this using technology such as special contact lenses, glasses that could read pre-marked cards and an x-ray table, according to authorities.

The NBA said in a statement that Rozier and Billups were immediately placed on leave while it reviews the federal indictments.

“We take these allegations extremely seriously, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority,” the statement said.

Rozier’s lawyer denied the allegations in a statement to the BBC’s US news partner CBS News, saying: “Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight and is looking forward to winning it.”

Rozier will appear in federal court in Orlando later Thursday, while Billups will be arrested in Portland and appear in court there.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the two indictments at a news conference with other prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday. He called the arrests “extraordinary” and said there were “coordinated takedowns across 11 states.”

“We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, theft and robbery over the course of a multi-year investigation,” he said.

Joseph Nocella Jr., US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said all defendants were innocent until proven guilty, but warned: “Your streak is over. Your luck is over.”

The first case involved players and partners who allegedly used non-public information to manipulate bets on major gambling platforms, prosecutors said.

Nocella called it “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since the widespread legalization of online sports betting.”

Seven NBA games between February 2023 and March 2024 were identified as part of the lawsuit. Rozier is said to be playing for the Hornets in a game between the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Rozier allegedly told a friend that he would leave the game early due to injury. Prosecutors said the friend and his associates then bet “more than $200,000” or directed others to place bets that Rozier would perform below expectations in the game.

They said he left the game after nine minutes, which netted those involved tens of thousands of dollars in betting profits.

According to the official NBA game report, Rozier played approximately nine minutes during the game and scored only five points due to soreness in his right foot.

Before this game, he averaged 35 minutes and scored approximately 21 points per game.

“As the NBA season begins, his career has already been sidelined, not by injury but by integrity,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Rozier’s attorney, James Trusty, said in a statement that prosecutors “appear to be taking the word of highly unreliable sources rather than relying on actual crime evidence.” “Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived this non-case.”

Trusty said he had represented Rozier for more than a year, and prosecutors characterized Rozier as a subject, not a target, until FBI agents announced they were arresting the actor at a hotel Thursday morning.

Former NBA player Damon Jones was also arrested as part of the investigation.

Jones is said to have appeared in two scheduled games: the Los Angeles Lakers’ match against the Milwaukee Bucks in February 2023 and the Lakers’ match against the Oklahoma City Thunder in January 2024.

Sports betting was illegal in most of the United States from 1992 until 2018, when the Supreme Court handed over regulation of the practice to the states.

Since the federal ban was lifted, sports betting has boomed, with major sports leagues and media companies striking deals with gambling firms to enter the billion-dollar industry.

The second indictment, announced Thursday, names 31 defendants who allegedly participated in a scheme to rig illegal poker games and steal millions of dollars.

The case involved 13 members and associates of the Bonanno, Genovese and Gambino crime families in New York.

Nocella said the intended victims were persuaded to play games with former professional athletes, including Billups and Jones, in Las Vegas, Miami, Manhattan and the Hamptons.

He said victims were “defrauded” out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game.

He said the defendants used “very sophisticated technology” such as modified off-the-shelf shuffling machines that could read cards. Some of the defendants used special contact lenses and glasses to read the pre-marked cards and an x-ray table that could read the cards while they were closed.

“What [the victims] “I didn’t know that everyone in the poker game, from the dealer to the players, was involved in this scam,” Nocella said.

When people refuse to pay, organized crime families use threats and intimidation to get them to hand over the money, Tisch said.

The charges include robbery, extortion, wire fraud, bank fraud and illegal gambling.

Authorities said the conspiracy cheated victims out of $7 million (£5.2 million), while one lost $1.8 million.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Christopher Raia, deputy director of the FBI’s New York field office, adding that the FBI is working around the clock to ensure members of mob families “cannot continue to wreak havoc on our communities.”