Not even two days have passed since the first drop of the ball in the new one NBA season, and numerous active and former stars have been charged with involvement in illegal gambling schemes. This is the first time that the FBI has arrested former big stars, but also that active players are under investigation.
US federal prosecutors have announced indictments against more than 30 people from the National Basketball Association on suspicion of involvement in match fixtures and betting on NBA matches.
According to the statement of the prosecution, among others, there is also Terry Rozier, a guard Miami Heat, Chauncey Billups, coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, as well as former NBA player Damon Jones. Other names and details of the indictments have not been made public for now.
The FBI has arrested more than 30 people in 11 different states, and the investigation is ongoing.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced at a press conference that the Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese mafia families were involved in financing rigged poker games to defraud victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars, reports NBC News.
"Not only did we expose the fraud they committed on the big stage of the NBA, but we entered the justice system against Cosa Nostra, including the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese crime families," Patel told reporters.
Patel also points out how these actions have been going on for years.
At least seven matches under investigation
The prosecution listed seven NBA games from 2023 and 2024 that it claims were targeted by bookies. They illegally invested money after allegedly obtaining confidential information about players and matches from people within the NBA itself.
Former NBA player Damon Jones, who worked as an "informal assistant coach" for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022/23 season, has been accused of providing a bookmaker with confidential medical information about the February 9, 2023 game between the Lakers and the Bucks.
The prosecution also accused Terry Rozier, then a player for the Charlotte Hornets, of telling accomplice Denner Luster he was going to "take himself out of the game" because of the alleged injury.
A day later, an unnamed participant allegedly told defendant Eric Erest that the Portland Trail Blazers would intentionally lose a game against the Chicago Bulls on March 24, 2023.
The most recent game took place on March 20, 2024, when Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, who was banned from the NBA for life last year for a betting scheme, allegedly promised a bookie that he would leave the game early "due to injury."
Insider conspiracies
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. mentioned Jontay Porter, who was arrested earlier this year for his alleged role in a match-fixing scheme.
"Since online sports betting became widely legalized in the United States, this scheme has been an insider sports betting conspiracy that has exploited confidential information about National Basketball Association athletes and teams," Nocella said.
According to him, the alleged scheme involved planning when players would miss games or when they planned to withdraw from games due to injury.
The group allegedly relied on NBA insiders to place thousands of dollars in sports bets through online bookmakers and casinos.
"Most of these bets succeeded, and the intended winnings were in the millions of dollars. The defendants then laundered their illegal winnings in a variety of ways, through direct communication platforms, wire transfers and simple cash exchanges," he explained.
