X-ray tables. Hidden cameras. Pre-marked cards. Prosecutors say the suspects charged Thursday in a high-profile illegal gambling bust made use of sophisticated technology to cheat victims out of millions.
In a series of arrests Thursday morning, law enforcement officers across the country took several big names in NBA basketball and dozens of alleged criminal figures into custody on illegal betting charges. One case focuses on sports betting while another involves allegations of elaborately rigged high-stakes poker games.
FBI officials said at a news conference that the poker ring was operated by organized crime figures from “La Cosa Nostra,” known Mafia families. The 31 defendants include alleged members of the Bonnano, Gambino, Luchesse and Genovese crime families, as well as Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former player Damon Jones. Miami Heat star Terry Rozier is charged only in the sports betting case.
The poker scheme started as early as 2019, with rigged games played in New York City, Las Vegas, the Hamptons, Miami and other locations, officials said.
“The fraud is mind-boggling,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at the briefing. Ricky Patel, the Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New York, said the scheme “cheated victims out of at least $7 million.”
Joseph Nocella, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the defendants allegedly used a “variety of very sophisticated cheating technologies” to rig poker games with thousands of dollars at stake — and he described some in detail.
Targeting “fish” with “face cards”
The victims of the schemes were called “fish,” Nocello said. They were lured into the games with the chance to play alongside professional athletes, Nocello said. The pro athletes were known as “face cards.” The “face cards” included Jones and Billups, he said.
Those involved, from the dealer to the “face cards,” knew about the scheme, Nocello said.
“Once the game was underway, the defendants fleeced the victims out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game,” Nocello said.
A “quarterback” and secret information from shuffling machines
Those taking part in the scheme allegedly used self-shuffling machines that had been “secretly altered” to read the cards in a deck and predict which player at the table had the best poker hand, Nocello said.
That information was then sent to an off-site operator who allegedly sent the information via cellphone to the co-conspirator at the table. The co-conspirator, known as the quarterback, then allegedly secretly signaled the information to other defendants and used that information to win the poker game.
One rigged shuffling machine was obtained at gunpoint, Nocello said.
Hidden cameras and X-ray tables
The defendants allegedly used a kind of poker chip tray that secretly reads cards with a hidden camera to analyze the chips that were in use, Nocello said.
They also allegedly used special contact lenses or eyeglasses capable of reading pre-marked cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards even when they were placed face-down, according to the charging documents.
Hidden cameras were also built into tables and light fixtures, said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“A financial pipeline” for the mafia
Members of organized crime families allegedly got involved because they had pre-existing control of non-rigged but illegal poker games in New York City, Nocello said.
They worked to organize the games and took a cut of the proceedings, according to Nocello. They also allegedly worked to enforce the collection of debts, Nocello said.
The games “created a financial pipeline for La Cosa Nostra” — the mafia — “to help fund and facilitate their organized criminal activity,” said Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office.
Shell companies and cryptocurrencies
The defendants allegedly laundered the proceeds from the rigged games through cash exchanges, multiple shell companies and cryptocurrency transfers, Nocello said.
Technology suppliers
Some of the cheating technologies were provided by defendants named in the indictment, Nocello said. The defendants who did so then allegedly received a share of profits from the rigged games, he said.
NBA’s Rozier and Billups placed on leave
The NBA said in a statement that it is reviewing the indictments and cooperating with investigators.
“Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are being placed on immediate leave from their teams, and we will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities,” the league said.
Prosecutors noted in the court filing, “The charges in the indictments are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”
Terry Rozier’s attorney, James Trusty, said Rozier had previously been characterized by prosecutors “as a subject, not a target” of the probe.
“It is unfortunate that instead of allowing him to self surrender they opted for a photo op. They wanted the misplaced glory of embarrassing a professional athlete with a perp walk. That tells you a lot about the motivations in this case,” Trusty said in a statement. “They appear to be taking the word of spectacularly in-credible sources rather than relying on actual evidence of wrongdoing. 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.”
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