Basketball: US Illegal Gambling Arrests!
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
More than 30 people have been arrested in an illegal gambling crackdown by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), including NBA stars, Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones, and also some members of New York City prominent mafia families.
One case alleges that six defendants, including Rozier, used insider information and, in some cases, players altered their performances to manipulate bets.
The second case alleges that 31 defendants, including Billups, participated in a scheme that concerned rigged illegal poker games with the involvement of organised crime families.
Jones, who is a former NBA player, is one of three overlapping defendants in both cases,
The NBA has stated that Billups and Rozier have been placed on immediate leave and have also been arrested, as well as Jones.
There are two indictments: one relates to sports betting; and the other relates to alleged rigged, illegal poker games.
The NBA is cooperating with the FBI.
The FBI allege that Rozier faked an injury and collaborated with others to place hundreds of thousands of US dollars in fraudulent bets, based on non-public information about athletes and teams.
In the other case, the FBI allege that Billups and others targeted victims to play in rigged poker games, backed by notorious crime families, scamming people out of tens of millions of US dollars, by using x-ray poker tables and pre-marked cards.
Kash Patel, the FBI Director, has described these frauds as "mind-boggling".
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
