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The case revealed an elaborate scheme involving insider betting on NBA games and rigged underground poker events tied to four notorious Mafia crime families—Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese.
Perhaps the most shocking revelation came with the arrest of Chauncey Billups, a respected Hall of Famer who just signed a multiyear coaching extension earlier this year. Federal prosecutors allege Billups participated in high-stakes underground poker games that were anything but fair.
According to investigators, mob-linked poker organizers used sophisticated cheating devices—including X-ray poker tables capable of reading opponents’ cards—to swindle unsuspecting players out of millions.
“Victims were cheated out of at least $7 million,” said Ricky Patel, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York.
Federal documents claim these events were designed to lure wealthy participants eager to play alongside former NBA legends like Billups and Jones. The games were a front for large-scale money laundering operations, allegedly using cryptocurrency to disguise illegal earnings.
The 49-year-old coach was on the sidelines during the Trail Blazers’ game against the Timberwolves Wednesday night—just hours before FBI agents showed up at his door.
The scandal doesn’t stop there. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested on charges of providing insider information to gambling syndicates—information that allowed the Mafia-linked group to rake in massive winnings.
“Rozier told members of a gambling ring he was planning to leave the game early with a supposed injury, allowing them to place wagers that raked in thousands of dollars,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
One key example dates back to March 23, 2023, when Rozier, then with the Charlotte Hornets, abruptly left a game after less than 10 minutes, citing “foot discomfort.” His early exit sent betting markets into a frenzy—triggered by a suspicious flood of wagers on the “under” for his points and rebounds.
Despite the NBA’s initial investigation clearing him in 2023, federal agents pressed forward with their case—tying Rozier’s actions to a broader criminal web that also touched the Jontay Porter betting scandal, which led to Porter’s lifetime NBA ban.
FBI officials confirmed that over 3,000 recorded conversations and meetings were captured during the investigation. The recordings exposed a network of insiders trading injury updates, player schedules, and locker-room information for cash.
“Day in and day out, this FBI is following the money — and today is the result of that outstanding work,” said Patel. “This operation involved an expansive effort across 11 states arresting 34 subjects, including multiple NBA players and coaches, who allegedly took advantage of their own positions of power to rig gambling systems for their own benefit — eventually funneling money to La Cosa Nostra.”
Patel called the case “the insider trading saga for the NBA,” adding that the arrests show “justice is served blindly regardless of how popular the defendants might be.”
Jim Trusty, the attorney representing Rozier, blasted federal prosecutors for what he described as a “photo op” arrest.
“They characterized Terry as a subject, not a target, but at 6 a.m. this morning they called to tell me FBI agents were trying to arrest him in a hotel,” Trusty told Fox News. “Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case. Terry is not a gambler, but he is not afraid of a fight, and he looks forward to winning this fight.”
Both Billups and Rozier were scheduled for initial court appearances Thursday in Portland and Orlando, respectively.
Sources inside the Department of Justice say the investigation is far from over—and that more arrests are expected as the FBI continues to peel back layers of this criminal enterprise.
The once-respected names of NBA icons now sit at the center of one of the most explosive corruption scandals in sports history. What began as whispers of suspicious betting activity has now exposed deep ties between professional basketball and the Mafia—leaving the league, and its fans, reeling from a betrayal that few ever saw coming.
