The FBI says a Mafia-backed gambling network reached deep into basketball, exposing insider leaks and rigged poker games.
At a New York press conference, FBI director Kash Patel called the operation “a historic takedown” and said it “enveloped both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra.”
He confirmed that 31 people were arrested across 11 states in two overlapping cases tied to betting and organized crime.
FBI links Mafia to insider NBA gambling ring
The first case involved insider sports wagers based on confidential NBA information.
The second focused on poker games allegedly rigged with cheating technology and protected by Mafia families.
Federal prosecutors say the two cases occasionally crossed paths through shared defendants. Together, they allegedly produced tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent profits.
U.S. attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the betting ring relied on leaks about player absences and early substitutions. He described it as “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes” since online betting became legal.
Investigators say participants used the information to place coordinated bets across online sportsbooks and casinos. Those wagers reportedly involved NBA players, coaches, and criminal associates.
Meanwhile, the poker operation allegedly stretched from Manhattan to Miami and Las Vegas.
Prosecutors claim organizers used hidden devices to cheat while laundering profits through Mafia-backed networks.
NBA figures Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones were among those arrested.
Authorities said many others came from outside the league, but the crossover exposed how sports and organized crime had blurred.
NBA integrity questioned as scandal grows
Patel said the arrests marked “tens of millions in fraud” and a warning to professional sports. “This case,” he added, “shows how greed and access can destroy integrity.”
The timing is striking. Just days earlier, commissioner Adam Silver said the league had asked betting partners to scale back risky prop markets that were “too easy to manipulate.”
Now, with Mafia ties and insider leaks under investigation, those warnings feel painfully prescient. The NBA’s embrace of sports betting has never looked more dangerous.
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