This week the NBA is experiencing one of the most serious moments in its history. The FBI has arrested more than thirty people, including the player Terry Rozierthe coach Chauncey Billups and the former athlete Damon Jonesfor two parallel illegal betting cases. In the first case, Rozier, Billups, Jones and up to six other people They trafficked in privileged information about injuries, match strategies or calls for players to bet on details such as when an athlete would retire or how many points an athlete would score. In the second case, involving Billups and Jones again, at least 30 people organized tomorrow poker games in which they used their influence as NBA stars to lure victims. Both cases, apparently independent, point to a corruption scheme within professional basketball of the United States whose first outline was experienced last year with the arrest of Jonray Porter for a similar case.
The two cases have been reported at the same time by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of Brooklyn (New York) and have been announced by the same FBI Director Kash Patelwho has ordered arrests in 11 states in the country. “The fraud is amazing“Patel said at a press conference in New York this Thursday. “We are talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud, theft and theft over a multi-year investigation.”
Fixed matches
The first case, which directly affects Rozier, a Miami Heat player; Portland Trail Blazers coach Billups and former NBA player Jones allegedly They trafficked information to make favorable bets to their privileged knowledge. Billups’ relationship, however, is unclear at this point: it appears in the accusations and documents revealed by the Prosecutor’s Office, but could have operated tangentially to it. His relationship with the second plot increases, however, a suspicion against him.
The suspects communicated inside information about the matches to encourage betting, which in sports includes almost any relevant details: from the team’s lineup to the number of fouls a player will commit. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the alleged members of the plot they shared data which included the games in which certain players would not be called up or withdrawn due to injuries or illnesses. This information came to affect players of the stature of LeBron Jameswhose connection is uncertain.
This plot also spread to Jonray Porterformer Toronto Raptors player. Porter was threatened to share this information using his gambling debts as an argument. The Porter case increases suspicions of a pattern that can affect all of US professional basketball.
Last year, the former athlete was arrested for a similar case. The NBA discovered that Porter conspired to influence betting. The player deliberately withdrew from matches so that others could benefit by betting on his poor sporting performance. He pleaded guilty to the charges before the Prosecutor’s Office and his sentencing is scheduled for December.
Poker with La Cosa Nostra
The second case involves more than 30 people and involves Jones and Billups, who was arrested on Wednesday by the FBI after finishing the Portland Trail Blazers’ last game (which they lost). According to the Prosecutor’s Office, until four of the five big New York mafia houses They had organized a plot of rigged poker games using all kinds of technological tricks and sleight of hand to deceive the victims. The FBI director indicated that profits of more than seven million dollars with this system, of which Billups pocketed at least $50,000.
The alleged gamblers operated in clubs and casinos located in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Miami and Las Vegas. The mafia modified DeckMate 2 shuffling machines and used X-ray tables, hidden cameras and fake sunglasses to read letters in real time. This information was transmitted to one of the people at the table called “Quaterback”. The quaterback told the others when to bet or fold.
To attract its victims, the plot used former players like Jones and Billups to play a game with the scammed. Some of the hand signals that were to be used in a game included a tap on the table to indicate a player’s advantage or a tap on the chin to tell another to fold. “What the victims did not know is that all other members of the poker gamefrom the dealer to the players, including NBA celebrities, they were in trouble“said Joseph Nocella, Jr. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
The scandal is calling into question the controls it has American sport to control betting. In Europe, this type of practice has been warned for years, which has involved minor league teams in soccer or tennis. The three open cases seem to be the tip of the iceberg of a betting, scam and sports corruption scheme that threatens to put the NBA on the ropes.
What emotion can there be in a confrontation if you don’t know if the match is rigged or not? However, the amount of dollars it moves is a very succulent prize for the suspects. “Bringing four of the five families together in a single indictment is extraordinarily rare,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “It tells you how much money was on the table.”
