""This is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that spanned the course of years," Patel began. "The FBI lead a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing. Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice across La Cosa Nostra," referencing the Italian-American mafia out of New York City."
"United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. explained, adding that the operation "exploited confidential information about National Basketball Association athletes and teams. Jones and Rozier, amongst others, allegedly "perpetrated a scheme to defraud by betting on inside, non-public information about NBA athletes and teams," including "when specific players would be sitting out future games or when they would pull themselves out early for purported injuries or illnesses.""
Chauncey Billups, current Portland Trailblazers coach and former NBA player, and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested by the FBI in operations tied to sports betting and rigged poker games. Former player and coach Damon Jones is also implicated. FBI Director Kash Patel and other special agents described a coordinated takedown across 11 states that resulted in over 30 arrests, with Homeland Security and NYPD involvement. Federal prosecutors allege conspirators exploited confidential NBA information to bet on player availability, injuries, and in-game pullouts. Indictments target at least six defendants in a brazen sports corruption scheme linked to organized crime.
Read at Miami Herald
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